Pray It

At different points and in different circumstances all of us come to a crisis of faith. 

Will we cling to God or drift away?

Will we trust in His goodness when we don’t see evidence of it?

Will we wait on His answers when our pain screams for relief right now?

The temptation to be angry with God for not coming through isn’t new to our circumstances. As we’ve seen, the Christians in Corinth were jealous of each other, fought and blamed, and they needed a strong hand to correct them. In Paul’s first letter he set them straight about a lot of things. He gave them a stern warning coupled with tender assurance. Paul ran through a list of the ways God provided for Moses and the people of God in the wilderness, and he explained that many times they had turned their backs on God. Paul wrote, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:12–13).

When we pray, God sometimes miraculously changes our circumstances, but more often, He changes us. He refocuses our attention on Him and His promises instead of our problems; He reminds us that He’s God and we’re not; and He gives us assurance that He’ll accomplish His purposes, but not necessarily ours. Is that enough for us?

When we feel like giving up, God is there. When we believe all hope is lost, God has a plan. When we feel crushed under the weight of worries, God says, “Trust Me. I have a way forward.”