Faith - tool or ornament?

These trials have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine... 1 Peter 1:7

Faith... it’s such a simple little word, isn’t it? - just five letters. And we all know what it means: trust, belief. It’s what brings us to God in the first place: the Bible says we are “justified - that is, put in the right with God - by faith”. And it’s what keeps us going once we have entered into that relationship with him. Just read Hebrews 11.

But here’s a funny thing about faith: it’s easiest to have it just when you don’t really need it. I think you will know what I mean. There are times in life when the sun is shining, the sky is blue, everything is well with us, and we feel happy. At times like that, faith isn’t a problem. “Of course I believe in God!” we say, “Why ever not? Why wouldn’t I? Praise the Lord!”

But the real test of faith, of course, is at the other times, when the sun is hidden behind dark heavy clouds and our lives are burdened with worries and problems. God seems a long way off, his ears seem deaf to our prayers, and we hold on to our faith through gritted teeth.

I know that there are Christians who will tell us that such experiences never happen - or should never happen - to those who follow Jesus, but I’m afraid they are in a state of denial, well-meaning, I am sure, but seriously mistaken. God never promises to keep us free from troubles; what he does promise is to bring us through them.

The fact is that faith which has never been tested - and has therefore never had to withstand pressure - isn’t really a faith worth having: it’s like a bottle of medicine which you never need to take, or a bank account you never need to draw from, or a knife when you never need to cut anything.

Putting it another way, faith can be a mere ornament in our lives, rather than a working tool. There’s nothing wrong with ornaments, of course - I’m sure we all have a few around our homes. That pretty little glass peacock that sits beside our television is very nice; but I don’t think it would be much use in an emergency.

In our verse Peter the apostle talks about the trials of his readers and says they have happened “so that your faith - of greater worth than gold... - may be proved genuine...” Yes, it’s the testing of our faith that proves that it really is worthwhile.

That is why we need to be always building and developing our faith, even when things are relatively easy. We do this by drawing close to God day by day, whether we feel like it or not. By putting ourselves under pressure by accepting responsibility. By taking risks for the sake of the kingdom of God. It’s in ways like these that we build a credit balance (if I can put it like that) in the bank of faith, so that we have something to draw on when the going is tough.

If this is true, you may have noticed that something I said earlier was in fact wrong. I spoke about having faith “when you don’t really need it”. Of course, the fact is that we need faith each and every day, whether the sun is shining or the clouds have rolled in.

So how about it? A faith that hasn’t stood the test is a faith not worth having. All right, God doesn’t want us to invite problems and difficulties, of course not; they’ll come soon enough without that! But he does expect us to put our faith to work. That means expecting to see answers to prayer and looking for practical signs that God is active in our lives. It means living to please him even if that involves sacrifice, inconvenience, even hardship.

So... What’s your faith like? Just an ornament? Or a genuine working tool? Is it time to roll up your sleeves and put your faith to work?

Lord God, help me to today to bring my faith out of the tool-bag and put it to work for your glory. Amen.