Faith Without Sight

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1


Have you ever cried out to the Lord in times of sorrow or trouble, and it seemed like God did not hear or answer that cry? I certainly have felt this before. Just recently I had something going on in my life that I really needed the Lord's help in. I told Him about it, trusted Him to handle it, and moved on. Well, when the time came that I needed Him to really work and help me, it seemed like He was just not there at all. I did not feel Him helping me, and I basically felt like I was abandoned by God. Extremely discouraged and unable to understand why He had "let me down," I asked God why this had happened. I thought I had enough faith, and I did not see any sin in my life that could withhold God's help. I just did not understand why all of a sudden God just seemed to have left me by myself when in the past He had proved Himself to be always there for me. The Lord later showed me that He was trying to stretch my faith, to see if I still believe even though I did not see. The Lord helped me to choose to believe that He is faithful and that He is my helper (Heb. 13:6). Later, the Lord opened my eyes to see how during that time that I thought God had not been there for me, He really was there for me. He did answer my prayer for assistance, just not in the way that I was expecting or wanting Him to.
Sometimes God hides Himself and seems to not answer our prayers so that our faith can be strengthened. When we do not see God yet still choose to believe, God is very pleased with our faith and He will, in His time, show Himself to be faithful and true. He never stopped being faithful, and this is key to remember. He may not be playing according to our "rulebook," but He is always faithful to His word. We do need to examine ourselves however, to see if there is any sin our life that could be breaking our fellowship with God. If there is and we confess it and forsake it, God is ready to receive us again with open arms as it says in 1 John 1:9. Again God is always faithful to His word.

"...for He is faithful that promised." - Hebrews 10:23