Live by Faith

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. [3] For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” James 1:2-3 NLT

After my secondary education, I was admitted into a private university that I liked. That was the school of choice for my friends, and we all got accepted. I was ecstatic.

I took the proof of admission to my dad, feeling all bubbly inside. On the other hand, my dad was deep in thought because an acceptance fee had to be paid.

A few days later, he called me and said, “If God wants you to attend this school, He’ll provide the funds.” I became downcast almost immediately. Instead of me to hope that it was God’s choice for me, too, I immediately concluded that I had a slim chance of accepting the admission offer.

Although I am grateful for the extra year I spent at home building my skills, I realise now that the provision for the acceptance fee was a trial that tested my faith. But my faith muscles were too weak to endure it.

Even my dad’s faith muscles weren’t strong enough for such an amount. And being that the school fee was higher than the entire family income, that wasn’t something he could shoulder. 

How can we ensure growth through work troubles?

James said there will be troubles that will test our faith. It’s not a “maybe” situation. It’ll happen. But when that happens, what will we do?

It’s not easy building faith only when we’re faced with troubles. Imagine building your faith muscles for the first time when you must handle a multimillion-dollar project. Your knees will buckle, and your head will get heavy.

The best time to strengthen our faith is when we feel we can handle the troubles around us. Those little feats we think God’s not needed for are good practice grounds.

A little headache, switching to a different product, trying to get sales, working with an annoying team member, or getting a new idea started can help us strengthen our faith.

This way, when bigger issues like bankruptcy, possible business termination, debt, bad deals, or high-stakes projects stare at us, we are more equipped to handle them.

God desires that we grow because He has more resources to commit into our hands. There’s so much of “earth” to subdue. The more we do this, the more the kingdom of God gets expressed here.

“I strengthen my faith daily.”

What’s going on in your life now that could use some faith? How can you strengthen your faith muscles? 

We face daily troubles, but we don’t apply our faith to these troubles because we don’t even have time to slow down and assess the events happening around us. Each day is an opportunity to live by faith.