A Test of Faith

"Our loving Father does not wish any child of his to have one moment's anxiety or one unsatisfied need. No matter how great our need may be, no matter how numerous our requirements, if we only "prove him" in the manner he bids us, we shall never have room enough to receive all the blessing he will give (Malachi 3:10).

...Why is it we find it so hard to trust him? Has he ever failed us? Has he not said over and over and over again that he will grant all petitions offered out of a pure heart, "in his name"? "Ask of me"; "Pray"; "Prove me"; "Try me." The Bible is full of answers to prayer - wonderful answers, miraculous answers - and yet somehow our faith fails us, and we dishonour God by distrusting him!"

From The Kneeling Christian by An Unknown Christian

Treasure of a Different Kind

One of my favorite devotionals is Peace For the Journey by Elaine Olsen. Here is an excerpt that spoke to my heart today:

"Jesus speaks to the pull that exists between temporal wants and eternal fulfillment.  He charges his followers with the "letting go" of the fleeting and with the "cloaking" of the lasting - an enduring purse filled with the unfailing, untouchable, and the indestructible treasures that await our arrival in our final rest.  Indeed, we may not be able to take "it" with us when we go, but we can be certain that "it" is waiting for us when we reach our final destination.

...We may not see the fullness of that inheritance in this day.  Rarely do we feel it and, even less likely, do we ever understand it.  We simply live in the certainty of it, knowing that our faith will soon be made sight.  And when it is, when faith gives way to the glorious rewards of a long and mostly unseen obedience, we will witness the bounty of our deliberate storing.  Only heaven is strong enough, deep enough, wide and completely vast enough to bank that kind of faith.

We may not "count it all joy" now, but we will then, after we make one faithful choice after another, until we realize that every current, spirit-spoken "yes" in our hearts has reaped for us an eternal and resolute "yes" in our Father's." (p. 154-155)