faith unfaded

Sometimes you just have to stand firm, no matter what other people have to say.

Some are well-meaning Christians that speak amiss. Others are vessels for the devil deliberately sent to derail you.

In either case stand firm.

I’ve been told more than once that I must not know/have known God. Once in the midst of a storm orchestrated by God for my own good, I was publicly accused of never knowing Him. It wasn’t true and many angrily jumped to my defense.

Instead of cheering them on, I defended the woman who made the statement. I knew my life wasn’t representing a godly woman at the time. I was under great conviction to surrender every thought to Him.

Not my heart, for I’d already given that to Him. But hurt had crept back in, and I was a little angry at God as well. I needed to let things go, not get saved.

I stood firm, unwilling to let someone’s opinion of MY salvation bother me.

But it happened again tonight and I’m far less gracious.

You cannot tell me that I never knew God if I turned away from Him during a dark period. You cannot tell me that my life would’ve been changed forever and I’d have never struggled again.

God bless the Christians who sit under such teachings.

But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 1 Corinthians 12:9-10

It is the times of struggle in my life that grew my strength. That didn’t happen as a lost person; it happened as a saved one. The attack was greater after salvation, and even more so after being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

I didn’t always pass the tests.

But I never once questioned that I knew God. I, and I alone, know when I accepted Him into my heart. Many have tried to convince me otherwise. I refuse to give a testimony that checks off boxes in a chronological sequence that makes others more comfortable.

My life has not always been a comfortable one but it has been one ordained and anointed by God for such a time as this. Esther 4:14

I will stand firm, knowing that while I may not always know the when and where to speak, I am certain of the what He has for me to say.

And I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I am His.