Strengthened Through the Storm

One of the greatest misconceptions in the Christian life is that faith is proven when everything is going well. In reality, faith is often revealed and strengthened when everything appears to be falling apart.

Most of us would gladly choose growth without pain, wisdom without failure, and trust without uncertainty. Yet throughout Scripture, God repeatedly uses difficult seasons to deepen His people's dependence on Him. Abraham waited. Joseph was betrayed. David was hunted. Paul was imprisoned. None of them would have chosen their circumstances, but all of them discovered something about God they could not have learned any other way.

When things are working, it is easy to trust our plans, abilities, bank accounts, relationships, or businesses. When those things are stripped away, we are forced to answer a deeper question: Is God still enough? That question is rarely answered in comfort. It is answered in uncertainty.

I have found that the most difficult seasons of my life have also been the seasons where God became the most real to me. There have been moments where I prayed for God to remove the struggle, only to realize later that He was using the struggle to remove my dependence on everything else. Looking back, I can see that some of the prayers I thought went unanswered were actually being answered in a way I didn't yet understand. One of the most powerful truths I have learned is that God is often doing His deepest work in us when we can see the least amount of progress around us. Faith is not believing God after the breakthrough arrives. Faith is believing God while waiting for it.

Recently, I experienced one of the more difficult examples of this. We invested heavily into a group of people who expressed a sincere desire for help. We gave our time, our resources, our energy, and our attention. They showed up for months. They followed the process. They did everything we asked of them. We believed we were building something meaningful together. Then, almost overnight, they disappeared. Not only did they walk away, but in the process more than one hundred thousand dollars was taken from our company. Since that time, we have not heard from them. No explanation. No conversation. No accountability.

If I am being honest, my first response was not gratitude. It was frustration. Confusion. Disappointment. I found myself asking questions that many believers ask when they are hurt: "God, why did You allow this? Why would You let us invest so much into people only to be met with betrayal?" Over time, the Lord began to shift my perspective. I realized that while people may abandon their commitments, God never abandons His. While people may misuse what has been entrusted to them, God is never surprised by it. What felt like a devastating loss to me was never outside of His sovereignty. The truth is that God is not limited by the people who leave, the resources that disappear, or the opportunities we think we have lost.

If He brought those people into our lives, He can bring new people.

If He provided those resources once, He can provide them again.

If one door closes, He is fully capable of opening another.

So rather than allowing bitterness to take root, we made a decision to trust Him. We chose to believe that God would bring new resources, new opportunities, and new people for us to pour into. Not because we understand everything that happened, but because we trust the One who does. I have learned that some of God's greatest blessings arrive disguised as painful endings. Sometimes He removes people from our lives because they have fulfilled their purpose. Sometimes He exposes things that need to be revealed. Sometimes He closes doors we desperately want to keep open because He knows what is waiting on the other side. Faith does not mean we ignore the pain. Faith means we refuse to let the pain have the final word.

For believers walking through difficult times, I believe there are three things worth remembering.

First, difficulty is not evidence of God's absence. Often it is evidence of His work. God is far more concerned with our character than our comfort.

Second, don't waste the season. Pain is a terrible thing to waste. Ask what God is teaching you, not simply when He is going to remove the problem.

Third, remember what God has already done. Fear focuses on what might happen. Faith remembers what God has already brought you through.

The reality is that every testimony begins as a trial. Every breakthrough begins as a struggle. Every season of growth begins with a season of stretching. If you are walking through a difficult season today, take heart. The same God who carried you yesterday is carrying you now. What feels like a setback may actually be preparation. What feels like a delay may actually be development.

One day you may look back and realize that the season you never would have chosen was the very season God used to strengthen your faith the most.