Faith: for when it all seems hopeless

“If my faith won’t work today, it won’t work tomorrow.”

Let me give you a solid minute to let that sink in, my friend. Because that statement is soaked in so much truth.

Honesty hour: sometimes I struggle with my faith. Sometimes, when things go wrong and keeeeep going wrong, I get in that “this is never going to change” slump.

I mean, I know the Lord makes ways for His children. I’ve seen Him do it. He’s done it for me time and time again. And I know He cares and hears my prayers.

But, sometimes, I suppose I still wonder and *gasp* doubt a little. Why do I do that? I haven’t a clue. If I were a betting woman, I’d say a few of you, dear readers, struggle with your faith, too.

Right?

Or am I the only one?

A long drive

In July, my family and I took a road trip to Florida to see some of our family. Now, if you know me personally, you know I live in Virginia (AKA God’s country. Don’t even try to argue with me). Virginia to Florida is a looooong way to go. So, instead of taking one of our own vehicles and risking a break-down, we got smart and rented a mini-van.

Except, this thing was like a spaceship.

(Side note: Have you seen the new “mom” vans now?? Those things have everything in them but the kitchen sink! So. Many. Buttons.)

There for a while, I was convinced my poor Pops was afraid to change the radio station and accidentally hit a button that would’ve turned the van into Inspector Gadget’s back up vehicle. Eventually, though, the radio stations were changed and we landed on a local (to Florida) Christian station.

So, I had claimed dominion over the back seat of the van. But, because of sitting all the way in the back, I couldn’t really hear any of the conversations going on up front. I could, however, hear the radio loud and clear.

You all know that I love listening to the radio. But, I’ll be honest, sometimes radio preaching is not entirely my favorite thing to listen to. I don’t really have reasons for that other than I like to be in-person when preaching is going on.

A timely message

But, this particular day, as I was sitting in the back of the van, the radio preacher hooked me in with his sermon. His message was all about faith and how we, as Christians, need to be rooted in it. Of course, like 99% of every other preacher I’ve ever heard, he brought in a personal story to get the message across. He had started his message by telling a story of someone he knew who’s grandson had contracted polio (or some other horrible disease… I may have missed the actual ailment?). The child ended up in the hospital for a while and, bless his heart, the prognosis was not looking good at all.

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But, he had praying grandparents, full of faith, who knew how to get a hold of God. After a few days of prayer, the grandfather walked straight into the ICU where the grandson was and straight up told the doctors, “Today’s the day. He IS getting healed.”

And the next thing you know, the boy was completely healed, good as new. The grandparents not only knew God could he could heal the grandson, but they believed it.

And that’s when the radio preacher said something that laid heavy on my heart: “If my faith won’t work today, it won’t work tomorrow.”

Faith: it’s necessary

Faith is a funny thing to think about, in a way. And a hard thing to define. If you look at Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word, you’ll find three possible definitions (not counting the sub-definitions).

According to them, faith can be defined as “a firm belief in something for which there is no proof.”

The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1, “now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

And, I think, my friend, we just found the reason why so many of us struggle with having the right amount of faith to see things through.

We have to believe, even when we don’t see. Even when it’s dark and the rain just keeps coming down. And especially when the devil has you trapped in a corner and you just cannot see a way out.

Spoiler alert, friend: There is always a way out. The sun will shine again. The Lord takes care of His children. Always.

That’s tough to believe and hang on to, I know. But, without faith, we’re without hope. And, friend, that’s a bad, bad place to be.

If our faith doesn’t work today, it won’t work tomorrow. And who knows? Tomorrow may just be the day things turn around. You never know what God has right around the corner for you. But, I do know, it’s likely something good.

Shine bright, dig in, and hold on. Let faith do it’s thing.