Tag Archives: develop and mature

If you have ever struggled with confidence in your life, what was once comfortable and easy brings doubt to your mind. If confidence is the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something, doubt is like a cancer that can deteriorate and erode your faith in God and yourself. The more doubt creeps into your mind, James 1:6, reaching your full potential in life becomes less likely.

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (the firepot) in his own hand, and a knife; and the two of them went on together. ⁷ And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. [Isaac] said, See, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice? ⁸ Abraham said, My son, ^[b]God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. So the two went on together, Genesis 22:6-8.

According to one of Jesus’ disciples, 1 Peter 1:6-7, faith is tested through fire in the form of hardships, failures and trials in life. Jesus’ earthly brother suggests that this life cycle is necessary to develop and mature, James 1:2-4. Michael W. Smith sings about this in his hit song, Live and Learn. The lyrics provide a brief summary from the Garden of Eden to Paul’s confession in Romans 7:15-18.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and ^[c]bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took hold of the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the ^[d]Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am. ¹² And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son. ¹³ Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering and an ascending sacrifice instead of his son! – Genesis 22:9-13

Before you can reach a level of faith without a doubt, you have to learn from your past mistakes, 1 Corinthians 10:1-6. If you don’t learn from history, you’ll repeat the errors, mistakes and transgressions of your past. Overcoming addictions, bad habits and unwholesome cravings isn’t easy, Colossians 3:5-9. However, when God puts you into a difficult situation like Abraham, trusting God with all your heart, soul and mind opens the door to reaching a level of faith without a doubt.

by Jay Mankus