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"Daddy, where did fish come from?" "Where did water come from, Daddy?" "Daddy, where did God come from?" That's a question that has been asked since the beginning of time. Oh, by the way, how did God mark time before the creation of the sun and moon? Where did time come from? What existed before time began? |
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I'm sure many of us have asked those questions and more. And, to be honest, I'm not going to give you an answer, because I don't know. It's easy to say "God has always been." But the sceptic will always come back with, "How do you know?" Some things are better accepted by faith. The existence of God is one of those things. But this I will respond to, "How can I know my faith is in the right place?" And the answer is, "Because we can test it. We can try our faith in God. Early on in my faith, I would ask God for a parking space in front of the store where I was headed. I believed God would provide it, and He did, at least enough to prove my faith. Eventually I realized how selfish that prayer was and quit asking. Well, in extreme circumstances I will still ask. And He still provides. |
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A little later in my faith, I would ask God to help me with something much more serious than a parking space. It may have been a healing, or salvation of a loved one, or wisdom, or whatever. I always found that God would answer my prayers. Oh, some times he wouldn't answer the way I wanted, that is part of the maturing process. But I always knew that God answered. He usually made it clear to me in one way or another. And sometimes it took a long time for me to understand the answer. Now my faith in God is strong, because I have tested it. And I still test it. Worse than having a weak faith is having a faith that has never been tested under fire. Imagine the army sending our soldiers into battle with weapons that had never been tested except on a rifle range. No one would know if they would work in the battlefield. So it is with our faith. It must be tested. It must be tried in the furnace of affliction. Only in that way will we know that our faith is strong when we face the inevitable trials of life. |
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| Is your faith being tried? Are you right now in the fires of affliction? Do you wonder if you have the strength to hang on? Trust in God. When your strength fails, His will become strong in you. | ||
| Joseph J. Mazzella | ||
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