Faith Builder

Are You Up There, God?

What do step ladders and Christian growth have in common? Well, I didn’t know either until the Lord showed me this picture. Imagine your Christian walk is similar to standing on a step ladder, say on a middle step. You have been there for a while and you have become comfortable spiritually. Life is going reasonably well.

Then, unexpectedly, something not so wonderful happens to you or a family member. It might be an illness, failing a class, losing a dear friend, or a financial blow. It takes you by surprise. All of sudden it feels like the rug has been pulled out from under you, or like the step you are standing on has been shattered.

When God breaks the step you are on, you have three choices. You can step up the ladder and draw closer to God - trust Him when the crisis doesn’t make sense, hold on to Him and ride out the storm, remain faithful to Him and pray it through. That’s the first choice.

Or you can fall back to a lower step. In other words, instead of growing spiritually you spend less time with God, read your Bible less, and turn to things that will ‘get you through this mess’ like overeating, spending more time on the Internet, and/or watching more videos or TV.

The third option is to jump off the ladder. If we allow ourselves to become bitter and angry at God because of the crisis, it’s like bailing out on your faith, or jumping completely off the path to spiritual maturity.

Having this picture in mind has helped me many times to avoid the very human tendency to bail out or hide out. When each crisis comes I have to remind myself that I can trust God in all circumstances even when I don’t understand why or how the crisis happened. It’s not easy. But we cannot stay in the same place in life and grow spiritually. Standing still eventually becomes back sliding. We need to keep moving upward if we are to continue growing closer to God.

So what will it be the next time things seem to go haywire in our lives? Will we be committed to step up closer to God and seek Him with more intensity, or will we back slide down a step, or jump off the ladder and call it quits? At some point in my life I have tried each of the three options. I have never regretted stepping up the ladder but I have always regretted choosing the other two options. There are awesome things to see and learn on the next step up, if we will just hang on and seek Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It’s not easy, but it is rewarding.

I Peter 1:6-7

…though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, so that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire.

I Peter 4:12

Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange were befalling you. But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph.

Do we really trust Him as Lord in all things? If so, let us step up, and draw closer to Him.

I Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.