Growing Through Life Trials

I have been at a loss for words lately.  I enjoy doing the Bible studies.  I enjoy trying to impart some hope into the trials that bombard us everyday.

For example:
This week my daughter fractured her arm.  She was very brave throughout the entire process and even faced the surgery as a champ.  I will admit that trying to wake her up from the anesthesia was like trying to awaken a slumbering bear.  I can absolutely tell you that drugs do alter the mind!  She was a completely different person until the drugs finally started working their way out of her system.  We prayed throughout the entire process and reassured her of God's power and grace.

I also heard that a dear friend has colon cancer.    This man has a young daughter and wonderful wife.  He has taken the news with amazing strength.  We prayed for him the other day before we knew of the actual cancer.

A young man I know is undergoing treatment for cancer (only in his early twenties).  He sang a few Sundays ago in church.  We continue to pray for and with him.

I have seen prayer bring comfort to so many people in so many situations.  I have seen prayer answered, healing take place, and peace brought about. 

And yet I heard from a young man the other day who has given up on God because prayer never seem to be the answer.

When do life trials become so overwhelming that prayer ceases being the answer? I am hoping to find some answers in a book I am reading called "God Attachment".  Drs. Tim Clinton and Joshua Straub are taking me on an interesting journey about how some people grow in faith and why many flounder.

I think the most interesting thing I have heard so far is that our faith grows at a slower rate than our own personal understanding of life issues.  We devour our school work yet spend a tenth of that same time (if that much) trying to grow our faith.  Many people graduate from college with about a third graders understanding about God.  Many people wonder why their "third grade" faith is not enough to sustain their adult psyche.  This is why many in college can be led astray by collegiate learning.  This is why so many people choose to give up on God!

Jesus said to approach Him with the faith of a small child.  Why?  A small child is growing and learning and maturing.  Our faith is supposed to come innocently before Christ so He can assist us in growing and learning and maturing.  Paul in a moment of teaching says this:

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV)

A small child is not born eating meat and potatoes.  They have to learn how to digest heavier foods.  The same is true with our spiritual growth - we have to train our minds to digest the spiritual before we can learn from it.  If we approach Christ like a child all of our lives, we do not grow nor do we mature!

I think this is why my little girl is able to accept the consequences that come with a broken bone much better than I can.  I understand the mortality of the human body, and she does not have that concept yet.  I think this is why some people are able to accept life challenges better than others.  They know their mortality and the need they have for God and the hope He extends in our lives.

If I could ever effectively help people understand this, then maybe I would not be with a loss of words in trying to teach them about the hope and the peace Jesus came to give each of us.  As you go about your day, ask God to show you the depth of your maturity.  You may be surprised by the answer.