Heroes Of The Faith And Me

As a child I loved reading biographies of famous Christian "heroes of the faith".  I was inspired and encouraged in my faith through the stories of people like St. Francis of Assisi, Eric Liddell, Mother Teresa, and Jim Elliot.  One person I particularly enjoyed reading about was George Muller.  He is known for starting orphanages in Bristol, England in the 1800's.  The most distinctive thing about his work is that he never asked for money.  Instead he prayed for whatever needs he had.  And God always provided, sometimes in very miraculous ways.

I always wanted to have that kind of faith in God.

The problem is, trusting God seems a lot easier in theory and in stories than it is in the day to day challenges of life.  It's easy to look back and say, "Of course God was going to provide food for all those orphans!" and think that that faith must have come easy to Muller.

In my own life, faith is a struggle.  I believe that God provides, but when it's my own credit card bill, I'm not quite so sure.  I know we're supposed to "look at the birds of the air" (Matthew 6:25-34), but somehow it's easier to believe that God provides for the birds than that he provides for my next month's rent.

I think part of the reason why this is so hard for us is that most of us in western cultures have so much.  If we're hungry we just go to the store and buy food.  If we need more money we work overtime.  It becomes easy to believe that we are the ones who are providing for ourselves.  We forget that ultimately God is the one who is providing for us, and that he will continue to provide for us, even if we lose the jobs, health, government, etc. that we thought were protecting us.

I'm learning that growing in faith is kind of like a building muscle or forming a new habit.  It's really hard, especially when we aren't used to it.  But as we see God provide and answer our prayers, it gradually becomes easier to trust him.  Does it ever become truly easy though?  I don't know, because I've never gotten there.

But I am learning and growing in my faith.  Every time I see God provide for me, it reminds me to trust him more next time.  It is his goodness and care that brings us through every day and every challenge that we face.