I know that when we think of faith we think of people who have “stopped the mouths of lions, had their dead raised to life, put foreign armies to flight, and quenched the violence of fire.” But I don’t know about you, but these circumstances have always made me think, “But… what about when things go wrong? What do we do then? What about when something horrible happens to us, outside of our control, and we don’t know why?” Ladies and gents, there are countless stories of those who “had trial of mockings and scourgings of chains and imprisonment; who were stoned, sawn in two, tempted, slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” The world was not worthy of them. All of these obtained a good testimony of faith. Yes, the faith that God was enough for these people, who experienced deep torments, is the faith that I want. If I ask God in faith for a new car or better house, these things are small blessings to me but they do not prove the Glory of God. The Glory of God is shown in me by His grace, His grace that covers me even when I am in my absolute weakest state.
2 Corinthians 4:15 says, “all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” It says this in the same paragraph that says we are “hard-pressed, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” How amazing! We always think by default that God is glorified in the big things we would label as “victories,” but here and in so many other places we see that God is glorified when He proves that it’s not our works of righteousness that get us good with Him, but Him displaying His vast, immeasurable kindness toward us: His grace! We cannot boast, but in the cross of Christ, because that is our ONLY righteousness! I don’t know about you, but to me that’s totally awesome!
I wanted to share with you a video of Matt Chandler, a pastor in Texas, who you may have heard of because back in 2009 it was discovered he had serious brain cancer. I just cannot do a justice to tell you anymore than what Matt says himself in this video, taken after his diagnosis and before his first surgery. I can’t embed it, but you can watch it here. If you want to know more of the story, go here. Matt said in the first video, “Now, in an area where it’s not a big win, I get to show that He’s enough! He’s counted me worthy to point to Him in this!”
I remember also Helen Roseveare, the English missionary-doctor to the Belgian Congo in the 1950s and 60s, who suffered greatly during the violence of the Simba rebellion, but in one night she was beaten and raped so badly that she lost her back teeth, and when her glasses broke, she couldn’t even see to defend herself. She had never doubted God before, but in that moment, she felt forsaken. But in the midst of the horror, she suddenly knew that God was right there with her. In the crux of her torture, the Lord spoke to her heart, not with words, but this message: “Can you thank Me for trusting you with this, even if I never tell you why?” This shocked her; she had always thought that she was the one who should trust God, but here God was saying that He trusted her with this suffering, and He wanted her to thank Him. Knowing and accepting this gave her a new peace that allowed her to bear it.
That’s faith. That’s the kind of faith that I want; to prove before angels and men that God’s grace is truly sufficient; that I’m not preserved by my own strength but by God’s creative hand. That even in the deep depths of the curse of this world, God is still sovereign, still gracious.
