By: Sarah Joyner, Local Licensed Minister

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien,

The Fellowship of the Ring

One definition of the word faith is, “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” I think it is easy for us to trust in, or put our confidence in God when things seem to be going well or when things are going the way we want them to go.

But when things start to get tough, when we are a single parent, when our kids keep getting sick and we are making endless trips to the doctor, when we lose our job, when bills are coming in faster than our paychecks; this is when our faith is most important and yet it is often when we leave it by the wayside.

I encountered these very situations in my own life. I won’t lie to you and say it was easy. In all honesty, there were times I felt like giving up. When I focused on my circumstances and situations, my outlook would inevitably become hopeless, pessimistic and full of worry. But when I would catch myself feeling this way, I realized my focus had been on the wrong thing.

James 1:2-4 reminds us to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

God doesn’t present us with tests and trials because they will be fun. He gives us learning opportunities that will make us stronger.

When we are in the midst of such difficult times, it is important to remind ourselves of all the good God has already done. For me, this has been in the form of keeping a journal of all the promises God has kept in my life, writing down Bible verses that reminded me of God’s love, and turning to worship songs that filled my thoughts with hope and determination.

We are lucky and blessed as Christ-followers to have a constant light at the end of the tunnel that can guide us out of the darkness: a darkness that can seem overbearing, heavy and oppressive at times.

We must remember to keep our heads up and keep our focus on the Light.