“For without faith it is impossible to please God” – Hebrews 11:6

THE SEVERITY OF some trials may not permit you to make head or tail as to why you are suffering them, especially when all that appears and feels to come out of them is unfavourable; no good fruit seems to come forth; instead of sweetness, bitterness seems to bud and bloom its flower, but little do we know that the fruit that is soon to bear will prove the very opposite. It will be fruit unto the glory of God’s name. ‘Bitterness’ is the process of our brokenness and God knows how to reduce us so that He increases in our lives. Being crushed in spirit is God’s mercy (Psalm 34:18); had we been left to ourselves, we would have soon grown conceited and filled with pride. God knows our hearts. Humility is when we leave to God to search our hearts (despite our own searching’s) and find what we are unaccustomed to seeing – “Search me, O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). When there is significant growth in sanctification, there is the danger of becoming puffed up with our own whiteness; we are to never lean upon the fruit of Christ’s righteousness in our lives, but rather upon the Christ of righteousness – that is our rock-solid foundation; it is on Him we fix our gaze, as Spurgeon stated, “…look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith…”

Has it ever occurred to you, in the midst of your acute and inexplicable difficulties, that you are being watched by heaven itself; watched to witness the grace of God manifested in your soul; watched to see how the grace of God enables you to grow more into Christ’s image despite the odds against you? “What a thought it is, that the lowest believer should actually bring more glory to God than the highest angel; and that the suffering obedience of a saint should be of higher value than the burning obedience of a seraph” said Joseph Charles Philpot. God is already glorified and He is already honoured; there can be no increase or decrease, however, do we know that we can withhold the glory of God in us by not honouring Him through our implicit trust? The angels rejoice over one sinner turning to God, but I wonder how it is when a soul converted by grace walks contrary to such mercy; will man glorify God now that he has been redeemed or will he dishonour God by squandering such love? It is a wonder to the angels that man can ever be saved from such wretchedness and depravity. Above all, the Author and Perfecter of our salvation watches for His likeness being formed in us and there is nothing that pleases Him most in the process than when we trustingly resign ourselves to His will in the threshold of our pain and ambiguity; no reason is given for our trials and we may feel only fit for the scrapheap and yet we continue to trust Him and grow in faith, anchoring into God more than we ever have done. This is the faith that pleases God. It is no waste at all – in fact, it is the very opposite. The greatest thing any man or woman could ever accomplish is to bring a smile to God’s face and joy to His heart, because we say, “Have Your way Lord, despite my tears, losses and most especially the lack of explanation, yet I trust You and so desire for You to be honoured and glorified with the work that You have begin in me.”

It is of no effort and no cost to say, “Lord, I’ll go to prison for You; I’ll even die for You” when all is well and blessings are descending like manna, but say that when God removes His smiles from view and a dark providence overshadows your life. Trusting in God really takes place when situations defy His goodness and upset your theology, just like with Job and if you have been tried in your faith, you will know exactly what this means. Our obedience to God does not always entail our prosperity; more often than not it triggers adversity. It is recognising that it is not about our prosperity but the fact we are God’s property, vessels of His glory, with His honour in our bodies.

It is not just possible, but greatly possible to please God when we are confident in Him despite all the screaming odds against us. Out of such trust comes deliverance from our own pursuits of happiness to being propelled with a burning desire for God to shape us for His own use – not our dreams, plans and purposes that constitutes much of today’s spiritual menu. This is the pleasing aroma to God of a life that is truly a living sacrifice.