I don’t know about you, but I love times of ease. I love it when all my kids are doing well, there is enough money in the bank, no one is sick, everyone likes me… Those are good times. I love driving down “Easy Street.” But (and why is there always a but?) But, my dad, Pastor Paul, made this statement once: “Strong character and enduring faith do not grow in a climate of ease.”

Turn on the TV news and you will quickly discover that “Easy Street” has been demolished by a bulldozer name COVID-19. I can easily think back longingly to times when life wasn’t quite so hard or demanding. And although a life of ease sounds wonderful, I realize that the statement my dad made is true. If my life was always easy, I don’t think I would ever feel the need to trust God. I don’t think my prayer life would be very vigorous. I would become very good at trusting in myself and in my own abilities. But when crisis hits, when life gets hard, suddenly I see my own inadequacies, my failures, and my inability to control my own environment. Suddenly, my relationship with God, my trust in Him, becomes the center of my focus, the center of my world. And that is exactly where God wants me.

It is during the hard times, the times of crisis, where I must exercise my muscles of faith and trust in God. It is during these times where my faith is tested, and it grows, because God proves Himself faithful once again. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV