Challenges To Our Faith

        I’ve always been in awe of hot air balloons.  As much as I’d like to ride, my husband, who is afraid of heights says, ‘absolutely not’!  So I watch from ground level as these beautifully heated balloons float above me.  We were in Arizona years ago during one of their 'hot air balloon' festivals and watched as they were heated and drifted up into the sky.  The sight of hundreds of balloons floating above us was stunning!

I guess it would take a lot of faith to ride in a balloon basket navigated by heat and directed by human hand.  My one son and his family rode in one a few months ago and he said it was amazing.  Still, just this morning my husband read on the news recently about a hot air balloon that crashed in Arizona.  Tragically, there were four people killed.  

   You can ask almost anyone and they could share some tragedy that has come to their family.  It might be a death of a child or parent.  A tornado might have come through and leveled their home and destroyed all their belongings or even have a fire which devoured everything they owned; an accident happened with children in the car and both were killed; or the driver was now a quadriplegic.  The negative possibilities are endless.

The point is, we all have struggles.  We live in a sinful world and satan rules this realm.  As believers, however, we have Christ who will protect us, and comfort us when challenges become to great to bear.

It’s hard to keep in perspective that God is in control when we are down in the valley of despair.  But when we think of Job who lost everything he had, who still clung to the Lord and even said we have to accept the good with the bad in life; that God is Sovereign and regardless of circumstances He is still a good God!

We are created for the glory of God.  When we trudge through the struggle and reach the other side, even if battered but not destroyed, we can often see how God kept us safe and stayed with us throughout; and ultimately later on, can use the event for his glory.

Even with God’s provision, there are those who would insist that if God allows horrible stuff to happen, He is a selfish God.  But God works through the bad circumstances we have. God uses these struggles to 'grow' us and enable us to help others.  

When we look at our current government, I can’t say I understand it.  There is so much adversity, and morality seems to have become a thing of the past.  Still there must be a reason and plan which only God can know, to further move His kingdom along.  

I do know, according to Revelation, we are to experience these situations.  We can see it all around us.  How will God use it? I haven’t a clue.  But it’s comforting knowing that God is in control and will one day return.  He is all powerful and has promised that Satan will have his due.      

Sadly the folks in the hot air balloon ride lost their lives, even though they had faith in the mechanics (and heating system) of the balloon and the person guiding it.  But it failed.  God’s not like that.  God does not fail.  

We do have struggles, but He is always with us, regardless of the circumstance.  The hot air balloon incident may cause their family members and perhaps even friends to question their faith and wonder how God could allow such a thing to happen.  

      ‘Stuff’ happens to both the good and bad in the world; saved and unsaved.  If we are a Believer in Christ, we may incur difficulties which may challenge our faith, but we know we are never alone.  This enables us to walk the hard road and come out the other side!

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