I was doing devotion the other day and I came across this scripture in 2nd Cor 4: 8-9, it says:

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.”

It just hit me that the process of faith makes you strong. Think about it! You go through so much trouble and you believe that the troubles are not the end of your life and you come out of the troubles stronger, able to withstand things you otherwise thought you never could do.

I believe that faith is one of the strengthening/growing processes that we have as Christians. The process where we believe that what we are seeing, hearing and feeling is not the end but only a season is where the growth happens. Thinking about the process of giving birth. A woman believes that her tummy holds a child while watching the stomach growing bigger. She doesn’t think it is a fruit or a car in there she knows it is a new life and after a season she will bear the fruit. Her mind never wonders if she will bear an apple or a cute little rabbit. She has that unshaken faith that what is in her tummy is a child. Even knowing that the process is scary, painful, troublesome, wreaks havoc on your body, she still goes through it because she knows with unfailing certainty that she will birth a baby. That is what faith is.

I realized that through all the things I have been through and trust me it is a lot, I have grown in ways that I never imagined I would. For example I don’t scream like a baby whenever I take a shot. I can tell you with both pregnancies I’ve had, I’ve been pricked so many times I lost count. Growth! There is never any room for growth when you are comfortable. Even in your career if you stay in the same role for years doing the same thing you become stagnant. I read a quote from Matshona Dhliwayo which said,

“It is impossible to graduate from the University of Life with no scars.”

You must be stretched beyond your normal ability to grow. Practicing faith does that to you.

We just celebrated my 25weekers 3rd birthday and I was dancing with tears running down my face. I was looking back to 3 years ago and the 8 months fighting for her life, it was faith that held us. We were perplexed, confused, hurt, scared, but we were not driven to despair because we knew that the greater one, who knows tomorrow loves us too much to give us more than we can handle. I remember thinking at that time what 3 years would be like, will we have a child or not? Will she grow as she is supposed to, or will she be held back? Every day for over a year, I had to tell myself that he will never give me more than I can handle and if he put me in this situation, he will not leave me by myself. He just stretches us past what we think we can bear to what he knows we can handle, and the truth is we always handle it with his help. Now that she is 3 and growing, my prayers have not stopped, they just changed. I know that this situation surely has an end and when she starts eating solids, my stretching will come from another area.

So family, the next time you find yourself in a situation that seems like it has no hope, or seems too big to handle, remember that the One in you is bigger, greater and can see the end result and all the possible paths you can take. Enjoy the process as best as you can. Live your life to the fullest trusting that God is with you, in you and around you and not one hair on your head will fall off without him knowing. He is very particular about your growth. Have faith, believe and you will achieve great heights.