Wouldn't life be one hundred times easier if we could learn how to live these statements in our own lives as quickly as they are said to us? I wish I could say, "I trust You, Lord" and BAM! Faith to move a mountain was evident in my life. I wish I could say "I'll wait as long as You want for whatever You want" and BAM! That sweet peace comes and calms my troubled soul and I never worry again. Or I could say, "not my will, but Thy will be done" and BAM! Control is placed in His hands and each day is lived for Him selflessly.
HA! Sorry, but this is reality where the fall/curse of man surrounds us every day. The sins of every human being plague our lives with each breath we take. There is a devil that "hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." (Luke 22:31). Just as Satan wanted to test Job and destroy his purpose, just as Satan desired to have Peter and sift him as wheat, that same devil desires each one of us. He wants to destroy our testimonies for Christ. He wants to tear apart our witness for the Lord. He wants to make us his victims and not God's victors. He wants us to think that life is about this physical world when truthfully "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12).
Even when we trust God and leave our lives in His hands, we will still have pressures, oppositions, and burdens thrown at us by the devil. If you want to do something for the Lord, you can guarantee the devil "hath desired to have you", your spouse, your children, your family.....your everything.We cannot overcome the devil. We are only human. But I do know that "...the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands." (I Samuel 17:47) I know that Christ is on my side, and He wins EVERY TIME. The devil can desire you, but he can't have you. "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." (Luke 22:32) "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word...." (John 17:20-26). The Lord has already prayed for us...amazing isn't it?!?! He prayed years ago for us specifically. Peter still denied Christ three times. His faith was weak, but it did not fail completely; it only got stronger and bolder. Christ knows our faith is weak sometimes (if not all the time! guilty...), but He wants to grow our faith. I once heard that, "It isn't about how much faith you have, it's about what your faith is in." When your faith is in Christ, "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20)
We can never have the beauty of Spring without first having the ugliness of Winter. We can never have a rainbow without first having the storm. A mommy can never have her sweet child without first going through the pain. We can never have remission of sins without first having the shedding of blood "and without shedding of blood is no remission....but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:22,26).
And ALL of this to say---we can never have the beauty of real faith without first going through the fires, the waters, the storms, and the valleys. We should be thankful that God takes the time to grow our faith. Sometimes we just need to sit back and allow the Lord to water and grow us. "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10) "Their strength is to sit still." (Isaiah 30:7) God's ways are always perfect. His timing is never a day late. His supply is never a dollar short. God knows exactly what He is doing in your life and in mine.
