Unshakable Faith

7/10/2024

Written by: Frieda Dowler

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1: 2–4 The Message.

What would it take to have an unshakable faith? A faith that circumstances wouldn’t cause you to doubt God. A faith that would trust God’s purpose more than in our own purpose.

What happens when there is loss? It can be overwhelming and terrifying. When fear swells up, it can challenge our faith. We all experience a face-off with our faith. Many times I’ve asked: Is this God thing real, because if he loved me, he wouldn’t let this happen. If he’s always here, where is he now? If healing is real, why do I have this diagnosis? If I prayed about this and thought God said yes, then why is it failing?

Somewhere, we get the idea that giving up our old lives and following Jesus will be trouble free. But we soon realize, bad things happen to good people. We have a choice to continue following Jesus when we think he has abandoned us, or throw it all out because it “didn’t work” like we thought it would. We might not press on with God because we’re afraid, or tired, or it’s just easier not to.

How many of us are in the middle of a mess right now? Things are not going according to our expectation. We have left everything to follow Jesus. And it’s been good. We have seen him show up on our behalf. We have even seen the Red Sea part right before our very eyes.

The book of Job tells us there was a conversation between God and Satan. The Bible says God pointed out a wealthy man to Satan and said there wasn’t a more upright man on the earth. Job was righteous in all his ways and he blessed God with all he had.

Satan laughed at God, saying, “He’s only that good because you have a hedge of protection around him and all he has”. Satan then asks God to test Job's righteousness just to see if Job will curse God. So God gives Satan permission to change Jobs circumstances. Satan takes away all Job has and his family.

What if we are all caught up in some cosmic battle to prove our faith and righteousness? What if our troubles come to prove to God and to ourselves that WE BELIEVE, that WE TRUST? What if we discover we are not in this faith things just for the rewards, but for the strength of our faith and development of our godly character? Would that be enough?

What is at stake when we have a face-off with our faith? Our lives, our eternity, and our very peace.

I have heard the peace of God described as the eye of a hurricane. Our troubles can sometimes feel like a hurricane, setting fear in motion. But during the trouble, we can have God’s peace.

In the eye of a hurricane there is calm and a blue sky with few floating clouds. The eye of a hurricane is a strange meteorological phenomenon that scientists don’t claim to understand, but it is real. And on each side of the eye there is the eye wall, wherein lies the most destructive force. It completely surrounds the eye. The eye wall is an invisible wall. The wall stops the wind and rain from coming into the eye, so complete calm exists there.

When we come into experiencing God’s peace, it can be like existing in the eye of the hurricane. God holds back the storms with a wall that could destroy us. When we sell out to God completely, nothing else matters. We will never experience trouble where we can’t trust the outcome to him. That’s what I call living in the eye of the hurricane.

I can attest to the rewards of peace when following and trusting God with everything. I’ve faced many troubles because I’ve been on my faith journey for a long time. When there has been loss, or tragedy, God has completely surrounded me and brought me through it all. I can’t explain how, but because I’ve experienced it, I know it exists.

It takes complete trust in God with the outcome of our circumstances to have an unshakable faith. When Job had lost it all, he could still say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Job 13:15 NKJV.