Faith is hard work, but it's worth it

I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday about the Psalm I shared in yesterday's post. I had made the comment that in that 3rd Psalm, maybe David was expressing more gratitude than faith.

She said something I reflected on yesterday. She said, I think a lot of faith can be found in gratitude.

Can. Be. Found.

You know, this whole faith thing, it's not easy. It's not like one day I decided I needed a little of it, went to the store and bought the biggest bucket of it they had, took it home and applied it generously to my life, and then boom, all was forever good.

No. Some days my life doesn't feel good at all. Some days I run around looking for the receipt and swear I'm going to take that bucket back.

I'll tell you what I'm thinking about while I'm running around looking for that receipt. I'm thinking about all I don't have in my life that I think I deserve to have. I'm thinking about all that's going wrong in my life that I think I deserve to have going right. I think of all the emotions I suffer through that I deserve to have just instantly disappear forever.

You know, one of the most meaningful words in the bible to me is "learned."

In the bible, Paul is writing a letter to the Philippians. It's important to know Paul is writing this letter as a prisoner. He's tossed in some nasty dark dungeon, and these are the words he writes in Philippians 4:11-13:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I have learned. It can be found.

Way back then, Paul was saying what my friend was saying to me yesterday. Faith is hard work. You have to be willing to learn it, you have to be willing to look for it.

And where you'll never find it - you'll never find it in reflecting on the things you don't have or the things that aren't going well.

Paul said his secret to being content was focusing on who was walking beside him in his circumstances, not the circumstances themselves. Paul said his gratitude was for strength, not for things.

When I reflect on my faith, when it's at its strongest, it's when I look back at some of the darkest times in my life. My faith turned those days around, not when God handed me a new car or a new job, and not when God waved a magic wand over my circumstances and stormy days suddenly poofed into days full of bright sunshine. No, my faith changed my life when I said I don't have the strength for these dark days anymore, so I'm going to let someone else lead me to the sunshine.

Faith changed my life when I stopped wanting my circumstances to change and started leaning on the one who most wanted different circumstances for my life. Faith changed my life when I stopped wanting things and started longing for strength.

The thing about strength. It's hard work.

No matter where your strength comes from, whether it's from the gym or from God. It's hard work.

Some days you have to look for it. Some days you have to learn it.

But my friend is right. Many days a good starting point is gratitude.

The amazing thing about Paul, and why he is one of my favorite bible characters. Paul wasn't always a man of great faith. Quite the opposite, really. But he worked at it. He was willing to learn it. And ultimately, he found it.

Most of that faith he found, he found in gratitude.