At what point will you abandon your faith?

(Francisco de Goya. St. Peter Repentant. c. 1823-25.)

(I am posting this for a fellow follower of Christ, who has been forsaken by God. I know that your questions will not be answered in this post, however, I believe that each follower of Christ should ask this question and not just pretend to be a superman or wonder-woman, when it comes to trusting God. At some time in our lives, we will each come face to face with our break-point. The adversary will ask the Father for permission to sift us as wheat. We must remember that Jesus is praying for us, just as He did for Simon Peter; “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” So to my dear friend and the one to whom I have spoken about the trial that you are currently facing, please consider the following words from Luke 22:32, “when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers.” I do not know why God does the things He does, but the ultimate purpose must be from Jesus exhortation to Peter. We must prepare to ‘strengthen and build up our brothers and sisters in faith.’)

You may be able to tell by recent posts, the past several weeks have been difficult for my faith.
As I write, my father-in-law is still in a coma from the auto accident of April 29. God has preserved Gary and has sustained him and our family, thus far.

I will not give any further details of my personal pain, however, I will confess that I am aware that my struggles are surely not worth comparing to those struggles of many, who read this post.

Pain & grief is relative to each person, so there is not a quantitative standard to measure what should be categorized as “big” or “small” pain & grief.

And to this point, we should consider that many “small” griefs, which are placed on a person will build stress until a “break-point” may be reached, and when the day comes, it seems that the collapse of ones faith came over “nothing”.

With this single little grief that may push us past our break-point, it may seem insignificant to our own heart. Therefore, we tend to feel guilty or foolish. Thus, we may not allow ourselves to admit that we are facing our personal ‘Crossing of the Rubicon’, as regards our faith.

The purpose for this essay is to encourage each reader to take hold of all opportunities to face personal griefs and suffering. God will be glorified and the adversary will be weakened when we continue the struggle in faith.

The question that is the title of this post, exposes the value, which our adversary sees within pain, grief, and suffering. Satan sees these small sufferings and big griefs, through a single lens, that purpose is; “Does this grief move D.S. Martin closer to giving up his faith?”

There is nothing painful in life that cannot be seen with the understanding, that the adversary wishes to use it for driving a wedge between us and God. (Genesis 3:5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.”
Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.)

From the above passage we can paraphrase the adversary by saying ‘God’s heart is not good. Men & Women shouldn’t trust I Am.’ And God is portrayed as an enemy of Man, because of a very attractive fruit tree in the Garden of Eden.

The fall of mankind and all subsequent pain, murders, wars, child abuse, etc. are all brought about by the simple fruit tree in the middle of the garden. Seems like a petty thing, yet Eve and Adam distrusted God’s will and holy nature, because of that tree, which had implied meaning to them, that He was keeping the “good stuff” from them. They were too presumptive, for their own good!

Also however, there is nothing difficult in life that cannot be seen with I Am’s sole purpose of building perseverance in faith. We might paraphrase this as God saying; “Don’t give up. Just stay with me David Martin, and you will see how much I love you. Trust me with more than your heart, and I will give you more than life.”

Please remember the Lord’s words to Peter (Luke22:31-32 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”Emphasis added.)

So if you have not thought about the question, you may be sure of this, your adversary has considered it, and he will ask the Father on some day when you think, as did Peter; “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.”

Peter had only considered two possible negative outcomes for faith in I Am; loss of freedom and death.

Have you given up everything as Peter had done?

1. Have you left your home and business for plans of glory in service to God?
2. Have you spent years in preparation for the work of the Creator of heaven and earth?
3. Have you betrayed the expectations of your father and mother, by declining to take up the family business and carry on the name your parents gave you at birth?
4. And finally, have you had everything, everything, everything, crash in on your very soul and crush your hopes and dreams?

Well, don’t forget that this all happened to Peter.

• Matthew 4, 18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and went with him. Jesus called him from his home, from his parents, from his business, from his whole life. It was all given up because of Simon’s unwavering faith in Jesus the Messiah.
• 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you lock on earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever you open on earth will be opened in heaven.” Jesus took Simon’s name. The proud name that was ‘Simon’, which came from his parents, now becomes “Peter”. When translated, Simon’s new name is “Stone/boulder”.
• Simon and brother Andrew are the first disciples to sign-on with the Messiah. They spend the next three years in training to do exactly what Jesus told them in the above passage from Matthew 4:19 “…and I will make you fishers of men.”
• Matthew 26:50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him…. 56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled. …66 What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they shouted. “He must die!” 67 Then they spit in Jesus’ face and hit him with their fists. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?”…
  69 Meanwhile, as Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, a servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”
  70 But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.
  71 Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
  72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said.
  73 A little later some other bystanders came over to him and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.”
  74 Peter said, “I swear by God, I don’t know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went away, crying bitterly…Matthew 27:21 So when the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?” the crowd shouted back their reply: “Barabbas!” 22 “But if I release Barabbas,” Pilate asked them, “what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
  And they all shouted, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the crowd only roared the louder, “Crucify him!”.

I should probably keep going with the brutal beating that Peter’s “Messiah” took. I might tell you about Peter’s Rabbi being treated with contempt as he is spat upon. I could recite the mocking that was bestowed upon Peter’s “King”, with a crown of thorns. Is it necessary to tell you about the torturous death that Peter’s God suffered at the hands of Roman/”gentile dogs”? Does anyone not know about Peter’s master receiving a Roman lance through his heart?

• So, let me ask the question again; At what point will you abandon your faith?
• If your husband or wife leaves you; will that turn you against God?
• If your son or daughter is harmed; will that turn your heart against the Father?
• If your mother or father abandons you; would that push you over the break-point?
• If you lost your job, money, family, purpose, & hope; would you then, tell God to shove-off?

In my opinion, it is better to ask the questions when things are going well, rather than to wait and deal with it on the adversary’s terms.

God bless,

DSM