An Earthly Struggle

   Chambers says today:

   "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes".

   Yesterday, between church services, I met with a couple who were having financial difficulties, among other things. As I sat and listened to their story, I was shocked to hear what all they had gone through in the last few years. They were not begging for help from the church, they were just looking for the combination of a sympathetic ear and some practical steps of survival. It was amazing to me that they had not just given up on life and "gone on the dole".

   In the course of the conversation, they asked me about my life, and I knew, as my story unfolded for them, that I could not even partly relate to their situation. I almost felt ashamed in telling it, that I had not felt any of the things that they were going through. It seemed like the difference between the Garden of Eden and a POW camp.

   That desperate couple had survived on faith and hope and trust. Their very presence in church that day, and in that room talking about their struggles, was a testimony to their life in Jesus Christ. They were perplexed, they were suffering, but they were holding on to HIm.

   I thought back to the Bible verse in the New Testament that reads:

   1Co 10:13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.

   Perhaps God is showing me that I am not made of stuff that would allow me to pass through a trial like that. If that is true, how do I help them?

   God, give me the right words to say is my first prayer and the second one is to bring about in my life that same level of faith and trust that they exhibit.