FAITH UNCHALLENGED IS STIFLED FAITH

I apologize for not going into detail about all that is going on in my life at the moment, or truthfully, all that is not going on in my life right now, but I figured that it's actually for your benefit that I don't (you're welcome, in advance). However, due to the constant ups and downs that I have been experiencing in the past few months (and especially having them come to a head within the last week or so), I did feel compelled to give at least a little depiction of my current state of mind. I'm sure many of you have experienced this to some degree as well, so as much as my intent here is to give insight into where I'm at right now, it is also my hope to give encouragement for those of you who have been, are currently, or will be someday, in a place similar to where I'm finding myself these days. No, these following words are not my own, but I believe that they give better voice to my own thoughts and feelings at present than I myself would be able to, as well as providing me with a better perspective of where I'm at and where that might lead to.

"Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers were so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier;

no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky;

no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand;

and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity;

Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too."

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." ~ Isaiah 43:1-2