Transformational Faith

Why is it as rare as a pearl?

Photo by Marin Tulard on Unsplash

One of the most difficult things of all is to be grateful in suffering, but for some strange reason this produces a transformational faith. This is a faith that changes the world.

When someone is pushed to a terrible limit, when the possibility of surrender and despair are real, and they decide to thank God for the opportunity to be tested and shine in darkness, something powerful happens.

Just one individual willing to take a stand against an opposing army of scoffers or demons, having a small yet pure mustard seed of faith (meaning they don’t have a lot of knowledge about God or the Bible), will see mountains move and dead people come alive.

Scribes and Pharisees won’t.

If this is not so, then let’s stop wasting our time reading about such people in the Bible who beat all the odds and performed miracles in situations worse than our own.

I am guilty of believing that my life is insignificant compared with Paul, Peter, King David, Moses, and the rest. I forget that they were flesh and blood just like you and I are now. They struggled with the same temptations and doubts. They blew it at times just like we do. However, I challenge you to review the lives of great women and men of faith in the Bible and find me one who did not praise God. Without worship in the good times, faith will not be evident in the hard times.

Is it wrong to have easy times? Absolutely not! But we shouldn’t waste them. You see, good times will not last. In time clouds will darken the sun and the winds will blow. They always eventually do. And to me what’s most interesting about all of this is how often I am surprised when it happens.

Something else to keep in mind.

Even in what we might at first think are the easy times, we suffer.

Don’t believe me? Every time you are sad, understand, this is something you will not experience in heaven, at least not in the way you and I do right now. Sadness, disappointment, worry, regret, anger, fear – all of these are a form of suffering. It shouldn’t be, but it is. And it is because we live in a fallen world and are broken ourselves.

Knowing this and yet acknowledging God is good, is a profound act of faith and it enables us to face difficulties with a clear understanding that God is on our side and there is an enemy who wants to take us down. Transformation faith digs in on this point and never doubts the goodness of God, even when the world is falling apart.

Finally, if you are one of those people who believe you and God are all you need, think again.