New Year’s Reflections Part 7

May 2021 bring you all the blessings that life has to offer. Matt.7:21-23 tells the story of the rock and sand builders. It was not until the storm that the real difference became apparent. Whether a person has true faith or not isn’t that apparent when things are going well. But when winds blow and storms come, only genuine faith can withstand the crisis. 
 
On the farm in NZ where I once lived there was a grove of beautiful, tall, and straight Kauri trees. One day a storm blew half of them over & I was saddened. However, a close inspection revealed they had been undermined by bush borer. The storm only revealed their condition. A crisis does not change anybody. If you are going to have a faith that withstands the storms of life, then you must have developed that faith by becoming personally acquainted with Christ before the storm hits. He becomes your rock. Usually, a crisis will speed a person in the direction they are already heading. E.g. if you trip going uphill when you get up you are usually a few steps on. The crisis of falling usually puts you further ahead of where you were. 
 
Courage, fortitude, faith & implicit trust in God’s power to save don’t come in a moment, they are heavenly graces acquired by the experience of years. We do not know our own hearts. I have seen people who have weathered the storms of a thousand seas only to drown in their own bathtub of troubles. Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” Trials and Tribulations help us see the reality of what this world is that we may long for “the better country.” 
 
What I am talking about is not pie in the sky bye & bye but a piece on your plate while you wait. Christianity is bread for daily use not cake for special occasions. The trouble with some is they have been inoculated with small doses and this keeps them from catching the real thing. Please join the walk with Paul that begins tomorrow and together as we journey our faiths will grow.