Unwavering Faith

by Alexandra Copeland

Psalm 84:11(NLT) tells us, “For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.” This is a favorite and very important verse for me personally. I was brought up in a tight-knit Christian community, and I was taught the Word by really wonderful people. They did the best they could, and I remain very thankful for their love and commitment. However, they believed according to the traditions and information they had been taught. And in some instances (quite a few actually), this information was not accurate. They believed that God punishes people whenever He sees fit, and that He withholds His blessings. This belief was passed on to me, and it set me up to approach God not from a place of sonship, but from a place of ambivalence. My faith was wrecked right out of the gate. 

Life is a gift that God has given us. His intention is that we will see from personal experience that it cannot be lived fully without Him in our hearts. King Solomon, the wisest man that has ever lived, wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:11(NLT), “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” God has given us access to every beautiful thing in the earth, and He’s planted eternity in our hearts. He’s made a promise to those of us who are in Christ that we will live with him an eternity, but we cannot see all that this entails from where we are in this moment.

Our earthly existence is not even a drop in the bucket when compared to the span of our entire existence. It’s the tiniest of dots, not even visible. Yet, however small a fraction of our lives that our time on earth may be, it is purposeful to the Lord that we continuously live in the moment with a view on eternity. And it is significant for us to understand that how we VIEW eternity will impact how we DEAL with this moment. Of course, every moment is fleeting, but in order to have faith for the blessing in the future, God demands that our focus is locked on the blessing in the present, regardless of what our circumstances present. Whether things seem to be going well, or not so much, our gratitude for the ‘right now’ secures the blessing in the future. 

Gratitude for the time and space we occupy this moment is genuine and authentic only to the point of recognizing how much God desires to bless us. Many people are not convinced of God’s love because they’re not convinced of His desire to see them blessed. This is the true definition of doubt, not believing in the goodness of God or His desire to bless His people. Doubt is a blessing blocker. If we give it room in our hearts and minds, we rob God of what He deserves. 

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:14 (MSG), “I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.” God is the Creator of everything and can do whatever He likes. His attention to detail is beyond precise and perfect, so you and I can be certain that nothing about our lives is an accident. We are here on this earth at this time because He willed it to be so. It allows us to recognize that our Heavenly Father appointed us to be born for such a time as this and planned it right down to the millisecond. 

Through the prophet, Isaiah, God said in Isaiah 45:9-10(NLT), “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’10 How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’” God wants us to have faith in His power, love, wisdom, and care. We shouldn’t put up walls that block the entrance of His blessings by doubting His brilliance and perfection. We should never doubt that His plan needs no addition or subtraction from us. We are masterfully created, we have a purpose in His plan, and His blessings are revealed as we walk according to the path He has laid before us. 

He created us and invited us into His family. We’re connected to Him through Jesus Christ. We’re His sons and daughters, and we will spend an eternity with Him because of what our Redeemer accomplished for us on the cross. He’s given us a future and a hope, but all we have in this moment IS this moment. We are to use it to glorify Him through thankfulness and love. The faith that got us here will need to be expanded to take us further. Heavenly Father deserves this. He deserves our faith in the moment and our trust for a future we cannot yet see. He’s waiting to see this kind of sold-out, full persuasion in our hearts. It is our duty as His children to give Him an unwavering faith, and this is the key that will continually unlock His blessings.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.