I stumbled upon a clip on TikTok of President Donald Trump declaring that they've won the war in Iran. I didn't listen to the entire clip, and I briefly skimmed the comments before moving on. The comments were as expected, but as I scrolled away I wondered why he'd declare that.
Of course it sounds ridiculous what he said, and everyone was disagreeing and expressing their various opinions on the matter. But yesterday, as I was reflecting on what it means to exercise faith, what he said in that clip came to mind.
Perhaps the American President is not the best example of faith, but what he said made me reflect about how we are to exercise faith. I don't know who has the advantage thus far in this war, but in the individual wars that we are fighting, how sure are we about our victory? If you're in the midst of a violent storm, how convinced are you that Jesus will help you get to the other side?
I recently read a Bible commentary regarding faith, and it reminded me that God gave us all a measure of faith. At the same time, there are different levels of faith. There is little faith, and there's great faith. Great faith is the kind that says: "Speak your word only, and my servant shall be healed." This kind of faith says God's word is sufficient to change the situation. This kind of faith says the Word is the only solution; without it, there's no alternative. It's the kind of faith that, even if shipwrecked, leaves you convinced that you'll make it alive.
I suppose you can think of it as a shift in perspective, but even with this you need an anchor to ground you through every storm. It's when, like the President, you have to start declaring things that sound ridiculous to others, but you take them as statements of both fact and truth. Jesus wasn't concerned that it looked like he had lost when he was caught, jailed and nailed to the cross. He wasn't concerned about being mocked, ridiculed and despised. So, too, we ought to look at the storms we're in. It looks like a disaster, a loss, and that there's no hope. But remember this always: you are a tree of hope: if you're cut down, you will sprout again, and your new roots will not fail (Job14:7).
Yes, we make grave mistakes in life; but God loved us so much that He decided we were worth redeeming from every error we have made and will make. He decided we were worth fixing, cleaning, and drawing close. He decided that we were worth defending. He decided that the storms that we go through, He would be with us; He would not leave us nor forsake us. Jesus was not embarrassed to suffer or to be humiliated. If anything, it exposed the weakness of His enemies, and the limit of their power. In all their boast, they could not even kill him properly, neither could they contain him in the grave. We, too, can make that boast. If we remain in Jesus, our enemies will never achieve their desires on us. Whatever they succeed in doing, it's nothing compared to what God is going to do for us. And great will be their shame.
So, be encouraged. Our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever (2 Corinthians 4:17).
