Are we strong or just spoiled?

This is the question Beth Moore posed in her "Esther: It's Tough To Be A Woman" study last night and I cannot get it out of my head. She's referring to our faith in God and how it would hold up under tougher circumstances. I am blessed to live in a country where I have freedom of religion and no one is going to persecute me or look down on my for loving Jesus. Oh sure, there are some that will criticize if I come across TOO religious or TOO bible-loving. But overall being a christian in America is a wonderful thing and most will lovingly accept my faith. My girlfriend, Leigh Ann, just returned from a mission trip in India. She met people there who have been ostracized from their family and friends for their faith in Jesus; people whose only "church" to worship in is the shade of a tree out in a field (in 75+ degree weather) but they cherish their time of worship. I know people who won't drive to church in a heated, well-furnished building because it's raining outside that day. Man, we take things for granted in this country, don't we?

How about the story of Job? Satan challenged God that Job was only devoted to Him because God had blessed him (Job) so much. He questioned God: "if you take away what matters to him most, will he still love and worship you or will he curse you instead?" Well, certainly Job showed Satan that his faith was strong and not just spoiled!! God took away everything that mattered to him - his wife, his children, his property and his health... one by one. Yet, Job's faith did not waver. He was devoted and loving to God throughout. How I wished I knew for sure that I was that strong? Of course no one would ever wish to go through any of the following tragedies personally but how I wish I knew if my faith would withstand them. I wish I could be 100% sure that if a gun was put to my head and I was told to deny my faith in God, that I would refuse and instead sing "The Lord's Prayer" as they pulled the trigger - as some of the children did at Columbine. Wouldn't I love to know without a shadow of a doubt that I would stand by God if I lost my entire family tomorrow? I don't even know how you begin to get up off your knees and go on in that situation, but I believe that God would lift me up and hold me until I am strong enough to support myself. And I pray that I would trust in Him to get me through it... I don't know any other option? I feel extremely heartbroken for someone who loses a child... but even more heartbroken for someone in the same position that doesn't know God. Where do they turn? Who carries them when they cannot walk themselves? Who shows them love when they cannot even find all of the pieces of their heart to begin putting it back together? Who heals them - when medicine and worldly cures only make them feel worse inside?

My friend, Shannon, has a close friend who lost a child in her 39th week of pregnancy. The baby was fine one day and then wasn't moving the next. She went in for tests and everything looked alright so they sent her home. They didn't do an ultrasound which might have shown a problem. The next day, no movement again and she went back. There was no heartbeat. Imagine, after years of infertility and miscarriages, carrying a baby 39 weeks inside of you, opting not to induce because you wanted to let the baby come in it's own time, and doing everything right to protect your child... and one mistake by your Dr. that could absolutely have been prevented, and you end up burying your baby before you even get the chance to know who he was! No one should feel that pain. But the woman this happened to did not turn from God. No, she turned TOWARDS God. She prayed more, she believed more, she trusted more and she loved God more. She even asked her friends, and their friends, and their friends, etc. to pray with her... and for her... and most importantly to praise God for His goodness and grace. In your time of sorrow and loneliness, can you say that you would do the same? I don't know if I could. Well, happily her faith has been rewarded and she is due to have a baby in September. She has been rewarded for her faith and love... just as God rewarded Job.

I personally am going to pray for more strength and more devotion. That no matter what comes my way, my faith will stay strong. I cannot imagine losing my health, my husband, or my children - but I know that without God... I have nothing and I must keep that relationship strong so that when this world lets me down, I can lean on His love and His grace to carry me through.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. "(Deuteronomy 31:6)