Ben Carson, the American politician, author and retired neurosurgeon once stated: “I believe if you keep your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the right attitude, if you’re grateful, you’ll see through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.”
James 1:6 informs us: “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave on the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
In the dark dismal days of life when no light shines for us and we are feeling at our lowest ebb, it is often difficult to hold on to our faith in God. Problems appear insurmountable, uncontrollable, they often become mountains that replace all reasoning. Times become hard. We may think to ourselves: "Why should I think about a life with God when all that is happening to me is hardship, grief and pain?" We may feel that God has forsaken us. Has no time for us or just doesn't care anymore. In reality, however, nothing could be further from the truth. God would never desert us. He loves us. He is in unity with us. He is our Father and we are His children. What good father would do such a thing to his siblings without an extremely good cause or justification? Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Everyone encounters problems at some point in life. They are a natural phenomenon. There is little that we can do to stop them from happening, but our understanding and how we handle them can make all the difference between happiness, misery and the ability to progress further along the road of life. The church can be identified as the family of God which also helps those who are distraught, grief-stricken, depressed and anxious, to name but a few, or possibly just people in need of some love and a listening ear. Romans 5:1-5 states: "Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
There is a true story about a man, who as a child had been a devout and active Christian. He attended church regularly, was a member of the choir and participated in many church activities. When he was nineteen, he met a girl with whom he fell in love and intended to marry. Unfortunately, two years later, just before his twenty-first birthday his girlfriend died of an unexpected heart attack. He was mortified and devastated. This was followed four months later by the death of his grandmother to whom he was also very close. He felt that God had forsaken him and ceased all further religious activities. Several years later in his thirties, his goal in life focused on owning a four-bedroom detached house. He had already purchased a three bedroomed semi-detached bungalow which he had been living in for the previous eight years. However, he knew that if he didn't act fairly quickly, house prices would soon rise to a level that would be out of his reach.
He decided that now was the time to act before it was too late and placed his existing property on the market. He went in search of his dream house. After viewing several prospective dwellings for sale, he found an ideal place in an idyllic location in the picturesque countryside. The property, which only appeared of average size, was actually deceptively spacious internally. This had been made possible by a large rear extension to the existing building in the hundred-foot rear garden.
It afforded four double sized bedrooms which were located upstairs, together with an extremely large bathroom which was capable of accommodating its own walk-in shower cubicle in addition to the large bath, and a separate washroom with a double vanity sink unit. Downstairs, there was a large lounge diner which exceeded forty feet in length, a kitchen diner with a separate living area of equal size, a large downstairs shower room adjacent to another dining room which was ideal as a fifth bedroom. The rear garden consisted of a huge patio area and multi-tiered lawns with shrubbery and trees. It had a large frontage with a U shaped drive and parking for several cars plus a detached garage which completed the superb property.
The man had never seen such a beautiful house and felt an immense desire to own it. He was informed by the present owner that as it was such an attractive property that there were already three prospective buyers who had made firm offers. The man offered the full asking price knowing full well that nothing less would be acceptable and was informed by the vendor that the first buyer to exchange contracts would secure the property. The race was on. The man prayed to God and asked Him for His help, knowing that he had severe competition from the other three buyers. He faithfully promised God, in his endeavour, that if he was successful in purchasing the property, he would devote his life to the church in whatever capacity was required, in appreciation and gratitude.
When he got home he had a phone call from his estate agent informing him that he had received a firm offer for his own property from a previous viewer who wished to move into the village to be close to her parents. She was looking for a quick sale. He accepted the offer and contacted his solicitor with a request to complete both the sale and the prospective purchase with the utmost haste. His wish was granted and he found himself the new owner of his idyllic property. A dream had come true. Unfortunately, he never fulfilled his part of the bargain with God and failed to offer his services to the church. This continued for nearly twenty years until the death of his long-term female companion forced him to attend the local church for her funeral. After the service, the local vicar invited him to attend a Sunday evening service and offered to perform special personal prayers for his departed loved one. This he accepted and enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to attend regularly.
He soon made many new friends who were caring and compassionate. His faith had been restored after so many distant and diffident years. At the following Annual General Meeting, he was elected churchwarden and so started a new road in life, serving God. Matthew 17:20 reminds us "...Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Amen.
