A Faith for All Seasons
It takes a lifetime for anyone’s faith to develop and mature. Some persons advance faster than others, with God’s help, while a few move slower, not to mention those who manifest spiritual retardation in their walk of faith.
For anyone, however, there comes a time when, like the disciples of Christ, one needs to exclaim: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” In other words, while I have faith, it’s imperative that I also give greater evidence of its reality in daily life.
All Christians need an occasional “faith-lift.” This is so because while many believers may not have flunked in the exercise of their faith, some exhibit “incompletes” in several facets of their pilgrimage. These may be the so-called”fair-weather” Christians, who go through seasons of enthusiasm for what they have in their faith, or merely seek the fringe benefits such faith provides.
Never think of faith, however, as a mere first-aid, nor as something disposable after one-time use. God Himself has planted such faith in your heart not merely for tough times but perennially, for all conditions you shall encounter in your trajectory in the world. God never postpones the outpouring of His blessings; they always follow His divine schedule and appointment!
Furthermore, God is always far more ready to grant favors to His redeemed than they are to ask or receive them. As a follower of Christ, your attitude should be one of positive expectancy amidst whatever barriers you may encounter along your earthly pilgrimage.
When God keeps you waiting for an answer longer than you may wish, His meaning is to give you not just anything, but the best thing, at the right time! His best is always ahead of you, and only gradually do you grasp it, and enjoy it!
There is no “Chapter 11″ in the spiritual life. If you recognize yourself as bankrupt in your faith, you are expected and empowered to overcome that condition, by God’s ever-sufficient grace!
Although faith is expressed in many ways, it is often through prayer that one exercises that faith. Yet, prayer is not a substitute for inaction. You are to pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended on you. And God never limits you to any posture in order to answer prayer, except for the posture of your heart toward Him - a heart ready to glorify Him in all things.
Exercising faith at all times and conditions, will confirm to the watching world that Christians are the only persons on earth who can live each day with a positive frame of mind, with an expectant outlook, and with an unceasing assurance of a happy future! The Sovereign of all is ever mindful of us all!
