Do you have an overwhelming situation in your life? A situation that seems a bit daunting, a little scary, and you don’t know how you’ll get through it? I’ve been there, and I know what it feels like. But I’ve learned that my faith is strongest when I am desperately in need and realize I have no hope apart from Him.
George Mueller said: “God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means… Trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats are the very food of faith.”
If we want our faith to increase and grow deeper, we must be willing to let God place us in overwhelming situations where we know we are in over our heads and we can’t handle it on our own. Overwhelming situations are a perfect arena for our faith to be tested.
I am in the middle of an overwhelming situation in this season of life as I watch my almost-98-year-old mom rapidly decline. The past year has been tough, and I have questioned God. Why, Lord? But He has taken me on a journey with Him that has deepened my faith and trust in Him. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve gone through, but I wouldn’t change anything because He has shown me His sufficiency when I am totally depleted. He has used this overwhelming situation to deepen my faith and trust in Him.
Living by faith is hard, but it’s worth it. We may pray for deliverance out of a difficult situation, but God may choose to leave us in it for a while longer – not because He doesn’t love us, but because He wants our faith and character to deepen.
As James said in James 1:2-4: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Will you embrace those overwhelming situations and allow God to deepen your faith?
