Your Measure Of Faith

Your Measure of Faith

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.

— Proverbs 25:2

I received an email from Marjorie who wrote, “I have been housebound for several years with Parkinson’s disease. I cannot get out of bed anymore. Could you help me understand God’s purposes?” I started to write back, asking if she would consider a ministry of prayer from her bed, but then I read Marjorie’s PS: “I use my time to pray. But still, it’s hard.” This dear woman is simply trying to understand — or at least, see — the good resulting from her many problems.

We cannot always see the good that results from our heartaches. We may see some good — perhaps we’re a bit more patient since arthritis slowed us down or more sympathetic to single parents since our marriage collapsed. But on the whole, the good that we are able to tally in this life does not outweigh the bad that we observe. The lost innocence of Eden opened floodgates of sorrow, deluging this world with sadness deep beyond telling. It will take heaven to dry it all up — to provide the total picture that will ease our hearts forever.

Only heaven will reveal the complete and clear picture of how Marjorie’s fainthearted prayers shook the destinies of nations and countless people on her prayer list. Until then, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter; it’s the glory of God that she trust him in it.

Great faith believes in God even when he plays his hand close to the vest, never showing all his cards. He has his reasons for doing so. God wants to increase your “measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). He does this whenever he conceals a matter, and you trust him nevertheless !

Lord, thank you for granting me faith to believe you. I purpose to trust you this day with the things I don’t understand. I long and look forward to the glorious Day when you will reveal that which you now conceal.