When your circumstances are dark and feel hopeless, trust God and his Word. He is trustworthy, and the time to trust is now!
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada to talk about great faith.
I’m intrigued by people who show great faith. You know, faith that goes the extra mile; that trusts in God when it’s really hard. And sure, we’ve all experienced what it’s like to remain confident in God when feelings tell us to do otherwise. But if you can still trust God when people assault you, or the cancer spreads, or you lose your life’s income, and virtually everything insists that you not believe God or his Word, if you can keep trusting God through all that, then you’re a person who has great faith. Like, okay, well, here’s an example. Remember that time in the book of Acts when Paul was on board a ship in a fierce storm? The sky was dark with rain, the winds, waves began to crack the ship apart. Paul even says in Acts 27, “When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” In other words, everyone on board had lost hope. The sailors thought the ship was going down and that they’d all drown. Yet in the face of doom and gloom, Paul says to the sailors, “Men, be of good cheer; for I believe God, [and] that it shall be even as it was told me.” In other words, he trusted God and in what God had said about that ship. Paul showed great faith in that moment. Because when everything around him screamed otherwise, he believed God and he believed in what God had said. And that is the lesson about great faith: because you don’t have to be an apostle like Paul. You can show great faith when, against all odds, you keep trusting God and his Word. And any Christian can do that. By the grace of God, it is possible to trust the Lord through the darkest of times and the deepest suffering.
I know something about dark times and hard suffering; when odds are against you, when you feel you might not make it. And what has often helped me is this beautiful poem. Let me read it and you’ll understand.
When is [it] time to trust? Is it when all is calm, When waves the victor’s palm, And life is one glad psalm Of joy and praise? Nay! but the time to trust Is when the waves beat high, When storm clouds fill the sky, And prayer is one long cry, O help and save!
When is [it] time to trust? Is it when friends are true? Is it when comforts woo, And in all we say and do We meet but praise? Nay! but the time to trust Is when we stand alone, And summer birds have flown, And every prop is gone, All else but God.
[When] is the time to trust? Is it some future day, When you have tried your way, And learned to trust and pray By bitter woe? Nay! but the time to trust Is in this moment’s need, Poor, broken, bruised reed! Poor, troubled soul, make speed To trust thy God.
[When] is the time to trust? Is it when hopes beat high, When sunshine gilds the sky, And joy and ecstasy Fill… the heart? Nay! but the time to trust Is when our joy is fled, When sorrow bows the head, And all is cold and dead, All else but God.
Oh, friend, I hope that this poem encourages you when the waves threaten to drag you under. When your circumstances are so dark, so bleak, feeling so hopeless, trust God. Trust his Word. Paul did that, and so did the sailors. And you know what? That ship may have cracked apart, but they all made it safely to shore. God was trustworthy when he told Paul to hang on, that he would be rescued and so would be those men. Oh, friend, when is it time to trust? The time to trust is now. God bless you today, and thanks for listening!
© Joni and Friends