The Most Difficult Thing in the World

I am going to speak for a little while on the most difficult thing in the world, that is, faith. So far as the Lord's people are concerned, it can be truly said that the whole of their life in every aspect - salvation in its first step and every subsequent step, spiritual growth, spiritual sustenance, spiritual victory, spiritual work and service, fellowship with the Lord and ultimate glory is all resolved into one thing and that one thing is faith. Faith is the key to everything in our relationship to the Lord. It is all just a question of faith - not faith as something in itself, but faith in God. That is something which has to be faced and as far as possible at any point, settled; but it is not a thing which is settled once and for all. There has to be a settlement made again and again on this point. We are really continually confronted with this question; in the presence of new situations and trials and perplexities and seeming contradictions, am I going to believe God or not, am I going to repose faith in Him or not, am I going to trust the Lord or not? That is true all the way along, and it always will be so. And sometimes those testings are very, very acute and severe. A brother wrote to me this week, one who has been greatly used of the Lord in other lands as well as in this one, who knows the Lord, and has a very real walk with the Lord, and he just put this in his letter. "It sometimes seems as though the Lord is a thousand miles away and has no interest whatever in me. It sometimes seems as though He has just cut me off". You may think that is very extreme, but some of you will not. You know quite well that such experiences are true to the life of a child of God. I was saying that this is something that has to be faced. That is the life to which we are called. The Lord has not covered it, has not veiled it, hidden it from us. We are called unto a life of faith, and we had better face it; and then we must, as far as possible, if we are going to get through, settle it, for I repeat there is no step or stage or aspect of the life of the child of God from first to last, from the beginning to the end that is not a matter of faith. Well, that is a fact, and let us be quite honest about it, and quite frank with ourselves. That is the situation. It will help to a very large extent if we have looked this thing straight in the face and not shelved it, not tried to evade it, but accepted it. TAS

God is working with the end goal in mind – the formation of the image of Christ in our “inner man”. Outward circumstances are only significant to the degree to which they contribute to this goal. And since the time is short, this process is being ramped up – significantly. The personal suffering of growing Christians is greater than ever.

I realize that it’s very difficult to be objective in the midst of a storm, but that is the time that objectivity, not subjectivity, is most needed. It’s easy to sit back when things are well and imagine how we will handle a crisis when it comes. But we never really know until it does come. Fortunately, God knows exactly what we’ll do so He uses the crisis itself to develop what’s needed in us to ultimately overcome it - faith is developed by fire. The operation of refining gold or silver under pressure is called cupellation. Cupellation separates the gold and silver from the lead.

(We) are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire (cupellation), might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, Whom having not seen, you love; in Whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:5-8).

Faith operates purely by trust in the unseen. Faith rests its confidence on the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7). As mentioned earlier, circumstances have nothing to do with faith just as faith has nothing to do with circumstances. Faith doesn’t try to self-evaluate or figure out the “why” of everything. Faith surges above self-evaluation and circumstances and rests in Christ, trusting God for the outcome of all things. Since Christ is head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22), faith gives all things to Him and leaves them in His hands. Faith lets the Lord resolve them in His way and time. Casting our cares on Him frees us from carrying that load. It’s not our strength, or integrity, or courage or sinlessness that overcomes, it’s faith that overcomes.

Others had trials of cruel mocking and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, sawn into, tested, slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all received witness through faith. . . (Hebrews 11:36-39).

It wasn’t their circumstances that changed, it was their soul. They overcame their circumstances by faith.

Faith doesn’t wait for something to happen, for God to intervene, before it rests in Him. Sometimes He does intervene (Hebrews 11:32-35) and sometimes He doesn’t (Hebrews 11: 36-40). Faith looks at what is and says, God can deliver me and He may deliver me, but if not I will not turn my back on Him; though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Faith or trust is personal, intimate and the foundation of any real relationship. We begin our relationship with God by faith in spite of all the so-called scientific evidence that there is no God - that the cross is merely an historical event of no significance to us. And after we enter this life, we walk by faith in spite of all the empirical evidence the enemy can surround us with that appeals to us to live in unbelief. As mentioned in the T.A. Sparks excerpt at the beginning of this article,

I am going to speak for a little while on the most difficult thing in the world, that is, faith. So far as the Lord's people are concerned, it can be truly said that the whole of their life in every aspect - salvation in its first step and every subsequent step, spiritual growth, spiritual sustenance, spiritual victory, spiritual work and service, fellowship with the Lord and ultimate glory is all resolved into one thing and that one thing is faith. Faith is the key to everything in our relationship to the Lord.

Ultimately, it will always come down to this.

This is why the study of Scripture is so important for the survival of the child of God, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10:17 (To see the practical specifics of how this works, see previous blog, “Training”).

Our minds tend toward unbelief, especially in crisis. For there to be faith when most needed, we must be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Romans 12:2). The grid we see through must be comprised of that which places the Person of the Lord Jesus, Who and what He is, at the center of our frame of reference. When we look at what is humanly impossible, faith allows us to see the God of the impossible present. Whether what we face is relatively easy or completely beyond us, faith in God removes the panic because it places this impossibility in His hands and leaves the outcome with Him. He that has entered the rest has ceased from his own works (Hebrews 4:10).

This is the only way to live life in the rest provided for us. There is nothing as relaxing as living in the reality, the attitude, that your life is God’s responsibility. And that your responsibility is simply to deepen your faith through growth in knowing Him. As He increases in the horizon of your mind and as you decrease in self-evaluation, self-expectation, self-importance, in worry, anxiety, and fear a life of simple, pure faith moves you into rest.

You see, every time you give yourself the right to worry about something; you give yourself the right (and the responsibility) to live your own life. However, if you adopt an attitude of total dependence on the Life of the Lord Jesus, then no matter how threatening a situation may be, you can relate it to Him. You can say, Thank you, Lord! This is no longer my problem or my worry, it is Yours. (Ian Thomas)

The key to perfect peace is perfect surrender.