Faith

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”

Luke 17:6

     When I read this verse I immediately think back to almost a year ago in my life in early October. I was captain of my high school basketball team, and we were in the middle of training camp. Everything was going great in my life until one day in the middle of practice, I broke my finger, and was forced to have surgery and sit out for 4-6 weeks. If you know me well, then you know that basketball has been a big and important part in my life and that I always worked really hard at it. This was my fourth and final year and I felt like all the hard work and preparation for it was going down the drain. I remember asking God, “why did you allow this to happen to me?” Though it was extremely hard, I knew that God always puts us through hard times for a reason, and that He had a great plan for me to get through this. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance”. I remember reading this verse on my bed the day I found out I needed surgery, and I chose to have faith in God, that He would get me through it and allow me to play my whole senior year. It turned out that I was able to do just that, not missing one game during the whole season and overall having a great success. This trial, which seemed like the end of the world to me, was just a small thing that God used to make my faith in Him greater. Through it, I learned that God is always faithful in the long run if we remain faithful to Him throughout the difficult times.

     Every believer’s faith is tested throughout our lives rather we like it or not. We cannot control what today brings or what tomorrow brings. But the one thing we can control is how we react to the circumstance. I know that for me I can become very discouraged sometimes, like when I broke my finger, but I know for a fact that God has never and will never forsake me and He always knows what I am going through. Martin Luther said, “All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired.” From learning this through what felt like a very difficult time for me, I will try my best to approach every tribulation with that attitude because from what I have been through so far in my life, God has never let me down.