A couple of months ago I was asked to speak at a Wednesday night service, on the topic of spiritual warfare. Just one week before my talk, I came down with a serious viral infection. God could have healed me, but he chose not to. The seven days leading up to the talk were pretty tough, but I had a lot of people praying for me, and the doctor said I wasn’t contagious, so I was able to speak as scheduled. Afterward, it took me another two weeks before I felt strong enough to go back to church.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and 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 43:2-3).
From Noah’s flood, to Joseph’s slavery, to the exodus, to the conquest, to the persecutions of the church, and even my own sickness, this is how God works. This is how he has always led his people, and I dare say this is how he will continue to lead them, all the way to the end. This is how he saves his children; not by removing them from danger, but by leading them safely through it. This is how we overcome death, and it’s how we overcome the world. Even if I must face the death of my body, he has promised that he will bring me safely through even that. Christ will do for me what he has already done for himself.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:1).
I can and do pray to escape troubles, but I also need to remember that when they come, as they sometimes will, I am still secure. The feeling that I need to be delivered from every trial comes from a lack of trust that God will lead me safely through them. My faith is built through seeing God’s faithfulness; in good times, yes, but even more so in hardship. As the Scripture says:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).
And:
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:2-5).
This is a repeated pattern in history; God brings his people out of a wicked land, through the waters of chaos (most often metaphorical, but occasionally literal water) to an experience of new life. He does not protect his people from the flood; he leads them safely through the flood. And through the fire. And through death. That has happened again and again. It happened in ancient Israel, and in the history of the church, and in my life. I need to expect that it will continue to happen.
If God had healed me when I first prayed, I would have been thankful and declared his victory. Instead I persevered, and it became my victory as well as his. A gift from my loving Father. The real test of my faith, and the testimony of God’s faithfulness, does not come in escaping from troubles. It comes from going through them and emerging, safe, on the other side.