When Your Faith Is Under Attack Series

There isn’t a single detail of your testing that Christ doesn’t already know about!

One of the most well known attacks on a man’s faith was the assault by Satan on Job. Like Simon Peter, Satan requested permission from God to launch an assault on Job’s faith. While Job was fighting through his battle he said this about God.

Job 31:4 (NLT) He sees everything I do and every step I take.

Job was struggling but he knew that God was watching and caring. God sees every step you take. He knows every thing you struggle with, every difficulty you face.

The Bible also says this about God.

Psalms 37:23b (NLT) The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives.

Circle "every detail." There isn’t anything about your life that God doesn’t know about and there certainly isn’t anything that He doesn’t care about. The Bible says He delights in the details of your life! He gets pleasure knowing about every single thing that goes on in your life.

Deb and I have had this ongoing discussion about details during our nearly 29 years of marriage. When we’re having a conversation she usually loves to tell about things in detail and I, on the other hand, like to get to the bottom line. I want to skip the details. That’s probably a guy thing. But she forgives me and loves me anyway and I try to work on listening to more details. But because I’m human I fail.

God doesn’t fail. He’s always interested in the details. He wants you to know that you can trust Him by telling you that He is watching every detail of your struggle. He knows that the attack on your faith is difficult. He knows more about what’s going on than you do – just like Jesus knew more about the struggle Simon Peter was facing than Simon knew himself.

Since He is aware of every detail, why doesn’t he jump in right away and stop the assault on your faith from even taking place? Instead of saying, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to test all of you as a farmer sifts his wheat. I have prayed that you will not lose your faith”, why didn’t Jesus tell the devil to leave Simon alone? Why doesn’t Jesus stop the attacks on your faith since He knows about every detail? Why doesn’t Jesus tell the devil to leave you alone?

The answer to that question leads us to the second strategy you need to implement when your faith comes under attack. Not only do you need to trust more in Jesus than your emotions but you also need to…

2. Cooperate with God’s character building process.

God doesn’t enjoy seeing your faith come under attack. But He does long to see your faith mature. He longs to see you become more like Christ.

Christ’s comparison of Simon’s test to a farmer sifting wheat pointed to the positive outcome of the process. You can’t make bread out of wheat until the hull has been parted from the grain. That’s why sifting has to take place.

That is where you need to focus when your faith comes under attack. One of the things that happen when your faith comes under attack is that you have an opportunity for your character to grow. You can take heart that the sifting will eventually lead to success. Even if you fail the test of your faith, like Simon Peter did, you can still learn from your mistakes and that learning can be very valuable to you.