Ditch The Doubting: Do Not Doubt In The Darkness What You Have Learned In The Light

It is easy to have strong faith and trust until we don’t, right? God gives us the gift of faith and then it is tried. Ugh. When our circumstances are going swimmingly well, the sun is shining brightly on the work of our hands and our health is good – our strength, strong - the assurance of our faith remains stellar. But give us unfavorable conditions, things that do not seem to line up with His promises to us, things certainly not of our choosing well… hmmm…let’s just say it becomes so much harder, Amen?
When we can’t see how anything we are presently experiencing in this unknown darkness could possibly turn out for our good, much less His glory, it remains difficult to keep strong faith on its tracks. We begin to question and get frightened like scared sheep. But God (my favorite two words used together in Scripture) is using this, even this, to strengthen our faith and trust in Him. We need to remind our souls of His goodness. All that He allows is for our good - even though our present circumstances may remain far from good – He uses them for our good. And He is always fulfilling His purposes for us. Always. Further, God does not allow us to put Him into some sort of proverbial little box of our own choosing either – what He will or will not allow in the lives or His heirs of mercy. We can know that He will use whatever allowed for our good but we do not know what the day will bring forth. That is why we cling to Him – resting secure in Him through all the storms of life. And there will be many, as we live in a broken and fallen world. Knowing He loves us with an everlasting love and has His eye on us for our good enables us to walk in a faithful manner, worthy of the Gospel. This steadies us through the pain and hurt of our circumstances – renewing a steadfast heart within us.   
When all seems to be going au contraire to His perfect promises – when all seems dismally dark - it is certainly difficult to trust. This is where knowing His Word and clinging to His promises becomes invaluable in the life of the believer in Jesus. We must remind ourselves of what He has said when the day is as dark as the night. It is in this remembering that our faith and hope are strengthened. What He has been to us in the past He will be now – He never changes. We wait on Him to make us aware of His love and faithfulness that have never left us. Never.