Mariposa Kisses (aka Dianne's Blog)

I was so encouraged by this piece from Streams in the Desert, that I wanted to post it up here for you to read. It reminded me about my own weak faith in God and encouraged me to rest more faithfully in Him. He cares for you too, so I hope you are uplifted as well.
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"Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece" (Judges 6:39).

There are three levels of faith in the Christian experience. The first is being able to believe only when we see some sign or have some strong emotion. Like Gideon, we feel the fleece and are willing to trust God if it is wet. This may be genuine faith but it is imperfect. It is continually looking to feelings or some other sign instead of the Word of God. We have taken a great step toward maturity when we trust God without relying on our feelings. It is more of a blessing when we believe without experiencing any emotion.

While the first level of faith believes when our emotions are favorable, the second believes when all feelings are absent. And the third level transcends the other two, for it is faith that believes God and His Word when circumstances, emotions, appearances, people, and human reason all seem to urge something to the contrary. Paul exercised this level of faith when he said, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved" (Acts 27:20), then nevertheless went on to say, "Keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me" (verse 25).

May God grant us faith to completely trust His Word, even when every other sign points the other way.