The Trial of Your Faith (Part 4)

 

For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4)

 

Death and Resurrection

The trial of faith will bring us to where we may say, with Christ, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." But we must follow with, "Into your hands I commit my spirit." The fact that we cannot know what is to become of us through such a surrender is part of the trial of faith. It comes with the package. It is what it means to have your faith tried and proven.

 

Can we see that our trial of faith may be a signal, not that there is something wrong, but that God is bringing us onto something bigger in Himself?

 

Thus, we see that the trial of faith really doesn't try a THING called faith. It tries US. God is never on trial. WE are being tried – whether we will be faithful to Him, because we believe He is faithful to us.

 

Faith is Relationship

If we continue to turn to God and stand by faith, all that contradicts God IN US will be proven a lie, and God will be proven true. Can we see that unless we were required to face these things, we would not grow in Truth? Would not be set free?

 

Again -- never think that our problem is that we don't understand doctrine. Or that what we need is an academic list of Bible information. No. Those things have their place, but aren't the root issue. It is entirely possible to memorize the Bible and have NO faith at all. And it is entirely possible to know little about the Bible, but to have faith. Read Hebrews 11. Rahab is in that list of the faithful.

 

What we need is an inner knowledge of God Himself. But this is impossible as long as we are governed by error. Thus, the trial of faith uproots the error, and forces us to push through to the Truth.

 

Faith is a RELATIONSHIP word. It is not an academic word. All faith goes back to my relationship to God – and finds its root in whether I believe He is really there for me, and is responding to me. (see Heb. 11:6) Thus, never think of faith as a THING we have. No. Faith is not a THING – it is based in a PERSON – in my relationship to God. Faith is based on whether I believe God is faithful, and whether I am therefore free to live like it.

 

The purpose of the trial of faith is to bring about a practical freedom and victory over that which would contradict the Truth of God in Jesus Christ. But this is not an academic or theological concept. The freedom and victory occurs IN ME. In the end, all trials come down to on question: Do I believe God is faithful? Enough to risk everything on Him?

 

The victory in a trial does NOT come when the trial ends.

The victory comes when the trial no longer moves me from faith.

Faith is the victory.

 

Excerpted from : THE TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH by David A. DePra at THE GOOD NEWS  © 1998-2005. All rights reserved. (Please include this line to forward the message).