Faith’s Growing Pains

The Philistines had a fearsome champion, a giant of a man called Goliath. The whole battle depended on him being slain. No one in King Saul’s army wanted to fight him. Along came a young shepherd who was willing. He didn’t have any real weapons, just a sling and a few rocks. What he did have was a living faith in the living God. Wild animals were an occupational hazard for David and it seems that he had fought a fair few. As he went to fight the Philistine hulk David explained the source of his courage:

“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from 

the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

David’s faith had an organic quality about it. It grew. Each time a bigger problem arose he could say “God helped me with that in the past, He will help me with this is the present”. Every obstacle became an opportunity to practice what he had learned before and a preparation for bigger problems that might arise in the future. Step by step, David learned in experience that God can be trusted. He is always as good as His word.

Christian knowledge grows through studying the Bible.

Faith grows as that knowledge is tried and tested in experience.

Trials are the growing pains of faith.

At the present time we are all facing many new challenges and difficulties. You might be stuck at home feeling lonely and anxious. Perhaps you are working in a high risk medical profession. You may be carrying a great deal of responsibility with regards your children or elderly relatives in lockdown conditions. It is a time when our faith can be stretched and matured. These difficulties are the growing pains of our faith.

Here are a few ways that you can maximise your spiritual growth potential in the face of these demanding circumstances:

(1) Rest on the fact that the God who brought David through all his trials can bring you through your trials too. 

(2) Recall some of the things God had promised to do for His people in the Bible. For example, He has promised to give eternal life to all who believe in Jesus, to always be with you so that you need not fear, and to supply His peace and joy even at times of great stress and strain.

(3) Remember another situation which you found difficult. It was not easy at the time but because you went through that you are better equipped to face this. Say like David “The God who brought me through that can bring me through this”.

(4) Reflect on the way God uses trials to prepare His people for future opportunities and challenges. Just as you have been made ready for this by the difficulties you have faced before, so today’s problems are stretching you so that you will be ready for what is to come.

(5) Rely on God, who knows the future, to fit the present lessons to the coming need. We cannot predict the future and we cannot see at the moment what we may have to face just around the corner. So trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 

(6) Resolve not just to survive but to go through these difficulties trusting God and asking Him to teach and train you in the ways of faith. There is one future event each of us can be certain of. Nobody lives forever and death is the greatest of all trials to face. Can you trust God then? He has promised to open heaven’s doors to sinful people who ask Him for mercy, forgiving their sins and giving them eternal life. Will He prove reliable when it really matters? The best way to prepare for that moment is to learn to trust Him now. If you learn His lessons now, whether they come in the home or the hospital, you will one day be able to look back and say “God brought me through that”. And you will be able to look to coming battles - even the final battle with death - and say with confidence “He will bring me through this too”.