“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (NLT)

Relationship is what is at the heart of faith. It is the center point. Jesus did not die on a cross of shame and sin so you could say you believe but never enter true intimacy with Him. Rather, the entire purpose of the cross was to make a way for you to come into the presence of God the Father. To be able to intimately know God is an undeserved privilege that He has chosen to give us out of His lovingkindness. Oswald Chamber’s once said, “faith never knows where it is being led, but loves the One who is leading.” The more we strive to intimately know God the larger and stronger our faith will be.

If our deep intimacy with God is established when trials and hardship come our way, then we will inherently be able to face them with joy. We are not joyful at the terrible circumstances we face, but rather we are joyful because our hand is securely set into the hand of our Almighty Father God – a grip from whence there is no breaking.

Faith is not an expression of your own personal holiness. Your right standing with God is a gift given to you. Faith rather is an aspect of one’s own character. What will you do in the midst of the fire? Faith is your response. “…for we know that [problems and trials] help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.” Has your faith been tested? Has it been tried in the fires of life? Has your character been proven by your response in faith?

Faith is not about success. We fool ourselves to think that because we are believers we will never fall, never fail, or never sin as bad our neighbor. The reality is that we are not righteous. Not one of us. The true test of character, then, is not the avoidance of sin, but our response to God when we realize we have sinned. Sometimes the troubles we face are the consequences of our own sins or they could be the result of someone else’s sin. God doesn’t just let us suffer these consequences alone. God calls us to have courage in our response to our circumstances when He says to us, ‘gird up your loans’, because our response will demonstrate our character and our character comes as a result of our faith. God comes beside us in our circumstances and declares over us, ‘I will not leave you or forsake you.’

Rejoice if you are experiencing difficulty of any kind, because by this you will know that God, who has you securely in His hand, is inviting you into a deeper relationship with Himself. How you respond to God’s invitation will reveal your faith.