“Faith … is the great blessing—the eye that sees, the ear that hears, the feet that run, the hand that grasps. It is the means, not the end.” In Heavenly Places, 104.
If your faith is a conviction, you will not be swayed and all that you do will be Christlike. You will be living your life for the Lord. You can honestly say, “For to me to live is Christ.” Philippians 1:21.
If your faith is just a preference, a choice depending on the circumstances, you will be swayed and double minded. You will abandon your faith because it will not be convenient at all times and places to represent Christ.
It is a terrible thought that any of us would abandon our faith for any reason. We do not know what is in our hearts.
God wants you and me to be part of the heavenly family so He allows trials to alert us to the danger we are in. Without the testing we may be unaware of some shortcoming that may cause us to lose out on heaven.
He says in 1 Peter 1:7, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
I thank God for testing my character. I want Him to search me and to know my heart to prepare me for heavenly places. I so enjoy walking with Him that I would like to walk through the heavenly gates with Him.
The whole universe is watching us this moment. May God be praised in all that we say, hear and do under all circumstances. I pray that your spiritual muscle will increase.
“It is coming in contact with difficulties that will give you spiritual muscle and sinew. You will become strong in Christ if you endure the testing process and the proving of God. … Remember when trials come that you are a spectacle to angels and to men, and that every time you fail to bear the proving of the Lord you are lessening your spiritual strength. You should hold your peace from complaining, and take your burden to Jesus, and lay your whole soul open before Him. Do not carry it to a third person. … Say, ‘I will not gratify the enemy by murmuring. I will lay my care at the feet of Jesus. I will tell it to Him in faith.’ If you do this you will receive help from above; you will realize the fulfillment of the promise, ‘He is on my right hand that I should not be moved’ (Psalm 16:8). ” That I May Know Him, 282.
Heavenly Father, Try me so that I may know whether my faith is a conviction, or just a preference. I pray that I will never abandon my faith because of inconvenience. I choose to always have time for you in my life that I may have peace in the midst of everyday responsibilities and trials. Amen.