Faith

I remember it like it was yesterday. Picking up the phone at work, watching my finger meticulously dial each button. Slowly, each of the buttons of my wife's number were pressed. Then ringing. This was real.

"Hello?"

"Hey honey. I've got an interesting question for you."

Hesitantly, "Ok."

"How's your faith today?"

"Rock solid."

"I'm glad to hear that. They just told me that they're shutting down the company. Effective today."

In less than two weeks, we had lost a grandparent and had a child undergo surgery. Now this.

But this is what faith is built for. When life is out of control, faith proves its importance. The book of James reminds us that it is through our trials that faith shines. Hard times can refine, sharpen, and ultimately strengthen faith. It tells us that God is in control, even in our most trying times. Faith reminds us that we belong to God and that He loves us. Our circumstances don't change that. He's on our side, working in every situation. We know that we will emerge on the other side victorious, even if our current situation leads to death.

When the things of this world that we desperately cling to are stripped away, it is our faith that reveals to us that we still have Jesus. And that is enough.