Frail faith

The other night we went to church on Wednesday, had a good meal before hand in a nice warm house, got in a newer vehicle drove in warmth and comfort.

Got to church heated, sang songs, praised, testified and prayed, got back in the nice warm car, stopped at the store and bought ice cream, came home and got ready to watch a movie.

Walked in the door all set to enjoy movie and ice cream and the house was 63 degrees.

Well it seems that the furnace went out, stopped working. So I spent 2 hours trying to figure it out and on the phone to get a tech out here to help fix the problem (I say help but I had no idea how to fix it so they actually had to do the work).

Well the tech gave me a list of problems, and an approximate on fixing it. He couldn't fix it at that time so we spent a night in 55 degree temps in the house.

That same man who was in comfort and in warmth just a few hours before got depressed over a little bit of cold. That same man who was singing and praising was now questioning.

So the next morning I got up and it was cold but not unbearable,the temp had fallen to 52 in the house. Turned on the oven and put some pans on the stove to boil water and get the warmth from the humidity in the air.

Then I did what every strong man does in those times, I called mom. 

I was grateful that the temp was only as cold as 52 but I was not happy that the furnace had gone out. I was not truly grateful for His blessings because I fell straight out of faith to questioning over a little bit of cold, a little bit of inconvenience.

It took 1 hour for me to go from jubilant to questioning my whole faith over a tad bit of hardship.

How pitiful.

by 9 am the furnace was fixed, heat was back on and it was not too expensive, yet I failed God in that short time because I had a little inconvenience. I had a moment of cold interrupt my nice cushy life, I had a moment of hardship(?) turn me completely around to questioning everything in my existence and my faith.

Many times I have read the account of the garden where the apostles could not pray and watch for 1 hour.

Many times I wondered why they could not get their focus, could not keep their vigilance.

After all they were walking with Christ in person daily, they heard God speak. They saw miracles, they saw Power. They were their when the blind saw, the deaf heard, the dead came back to life, Jesus walked on water and calmed the storms. They saw this, they witnessed first hand this power yet they could not stay awake one hour to pray and watch.

Mat 26:40  And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

Are these apostles any different than us? No.

Do they have any more power, or revelation than we have? No.

Are we any less than they? No.

Are we any more than they? No.

Humans are humans are humans. We all have the same capacity for faith and for failure. 

We all have the faith to move mountains capability. 

We all have the same potential to deny Christ.

We all have the same chance to question if He is really risen.

We all have the same capacity to turn and flee from Him in the moment of Crisis.

Guess what? We probably will fail and fall a few times in our lives.

If something so small as a bit of cold can make me waver and question, how strong am I?

Well the truth is simple, I am only as strong as He is allowed to be in my life.

I am only as faithful as I let myself be.

In those moments of doubt and fear I am only as constant as I want to be.

It is all a choice and I allowed a slight problem to overwhelm me.

Now I am fine, I repented and confessed it, but still it bothers me that I fell so fast.

For if it took such a small thing for me to doubt and fear, what will happen when the big problems come?

I can hope I will stand firm and strong in the faith. But if this is any indication then I shall have to resolve to strengthen my faith.

And how do I do that? Glad you asked.

We can do that by this:

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Get in the Word. Pray now for the times ahead, build up a bigger storehouse of faith so that when a big problem comes along, I have a big warehouse of faith to get through it.

Pray now for the strength to bear whatever comes.

Beg for the power of God in your life now, so that when the trials and tribulations come you can stand firm.

Now we know that if we fall, if we fail, we can repent, confess and God will forgive.

Oh but how much better if we have stayed straight and true, never falling, never wavering.

Now is the time to build up the strength for the day and hour of our troubles to come.

Now is the time to work up a faith that can withstand a true hurricane of trouble.

By the trying and testing, your faith can grow strong, or it can fall apart.

Today is the day to decide which it will be. 

For it is a choice.

Will you stand through the power of God, or  will you fall through the weakness of .flesh?

It is a choice we make everyday, do we recharge and refresh or do we ignore and do it on our own?

Frail faith.