Each week it seems I hear of another leader that has turned from the faith and it is gutting.  What happened?  I don’t know.  I’m sure every one of them has a story.

I too remember a few difficult seasons of faith, wondering if anything I believed was true.  Wondering what I would believe and practice if born in a different country.  Wondering if God and the gospel were real.  Those times of crisis were terrible.  And most of those times were surrounded with personal crisis as well.

But during those seasons I just hung on.  Believing when I didn’t understand.  Enduring the fire.  And now I can see their value because I see my faith is stronger.  I had to really ponder why I believed.  And the fire just strengthened the metal as when it is heated hot and then quenched in oil to make a sharp tool.  But they were also precarious.

I also remember other times and types of crisis.  Times of drifting into sin and the Holy Spirit fearfully rescuing me from the brink of falling.  Because when we are in sin it changes our thinking about life and God and we see (or rather don’t see) through thick clouds.  It’s a different crisis of faith as it is the crisis of obedience and wondering about the laws of God.

And so when I hear of leaders turning away from the faith, it causes me to pause.  In once sense I’m so at peace with the love of God, His faithfulness to me, His miracles, His presence, that I rest in Him.  There’s another part of me that realizes there are many trials that come our way that can derail us.  I’ve gone through one the last few years of a type I had never been on before.  It was scary how much of not-God entered my heart.

But I can’t predict the trials, their types or what will come.  But I rest in His love for me that has been shown both 2000 years ago and in so many ways every day.  And I rely on this Scripture from Jude:

²⁴ Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling…

That’s a good word right there.