Tested Faith

The only real faith is tested faith.  President Teddy Roosevelt struggled with whether or not he would be able to fight when the battle came.  Would he stand and be courageous or would he cower and run?  Once he found himself in the middle of the fray in Cuba he performed admirably.  He felt great assurance but only after his swelling words of courage was actually confirmed by heroic actions.  Courage isn’t courage in the talking; it is only courage in the doing.  The great “ace of aces” Eddie Rickenbacker, Word War I aviator, lived in turmoil within until finally, during his first “dogfight”, he found himself performing well and with great distinction.  How do we know if we have the right stuff?  Only time can tell.  Time is the great test of all things.  The prophet Habakkuk struggled with several things.  First he struggled with the sin of Judah and God not dealing with it.  Then as the Lord tells him that he would deal with it through the wicked Babylonians, he struggled with God’s plan.  How could such a righteous God use a group more wicked than Judah, to discipline Judah?  To his credit, after challenging God strongly he ends with joy and faith in God and His works.  Habakkuk struggled with what is often  our greatest struggle; “what do we do when God acts outside our understanding of who He is?”  There is only one correct answer to this question.  We WAIT!  We wait, and in the waiting our faith is purified and proven.  Faith is not faith until it is tested faith.  Faith not tested is only conjecture.  It can be talked, preached and testified to but until it is tested it is only talk.  Tested faith can be trusted and walked upon.  Preached faith is a hypothesis that awaits proving by being challenged and standing the test of time.  Maybe today the Hand of God confronts you with circumstances that need intervention.  Wishing, hoping and confessing won’t bring the victorious end to your dilemma.  Only waiting on God in faith and acting on His direction will bring about the answer.