“Faith, by its very nature, must be tried.” (Oswald Chambers)
Who hasn’t heard of Oswald Chambers? One of the best devotional books ever published, in my opinion, is My Utmost for His Highest. It is a compilation of portions of messages and talks Mr. Chambers gave throughout his life, all of which were painstakingly recorded in shorthand by his wife. Many books were published from these notes based on sermons and teaching of Oswald Chambers.
And you may have heard of author Jan Karon, who delighted many readers with her stories about an Episcopalian priest and his neighbor cum wife in the fictional North Carolina town of Mitford. It is from a quote, the one above by Oswald Chambers, in the book, At Home in Mitford, that a question arises about the testing of our faith and giving thanks for it.
Grudging Gratitude?
The question asked by the main character, Father Tim, and the response by his neighbor, Cynthia, got us to thinking it would be good to follow up on it for ourselves. That question and response are:
(Father Tim) “Would you agree that we must be willing to thank God for every trial of our faith, no matter how severe, for the greater strength it produces?”
(Cynthia’s response) “I’m perfectly willing to say it, but I’m continually unable to do it.”
Exploring our thoughts about this exchange will be the topic of discussion and Bible study for the next two weeks in our women’s Bible study. I, personally, want to root out the biblical answer to the question Father Tim poses.
A Novel Idea
Some may look askance at the idea of a Bible study arising from a story of fiction, but why not? All of life presents opportunities to see the hand of God at work in our lives and of the lives of those around us. In fact, it should give us pause if we are not growing in our awareness of the presence and activity of God in our lives and those of others.
Our faith in God through Jesus Christ will be tested. This is not conjecture, it is a tried-and-true fact, attested to in Scripture (James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:6-7). It will come whether we are aware and ready for it or not. If we are not aware and prepared for testing and trials of our faith, we run the risk of running in a trajectory away from God and blaming him when things go awry, rather than running to our heavenly Father, who is our Refuge and Rock of safety. And only source of comfort and peace, I might add.
It will be an interesting study. So far, I have over two pages of cut and pasted Scriptures related to the topic. God has spoken. He is not silent. It is for us to listen with ears that hear and obey.
More on that next time!
I want to remind you of another topic of study: the Lord’s Prayer and how Jesus taught us to pray. Offered in 10 weeks via Zoom, Teach Us to Pray will begin on January 24, 2022, meeting at 10 AM Pacific Time.
If you are interested in joining us for this study, please register through the link below.
We hope you will join us!
Click Here to Register for Teach Us to Pray.
If you have any questions, you may email jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com.
Please note, you will receive two confirmation emails after Registering:
1) an email request to Confirm Your Subscription. Please confirm to be included in the Zoom Bible study.
2) If you do not see the second Confirmation email letter in your In box after 30 minutes, be sure to check your Spam/Junk folder.