Faith is something every Christian will struggle with at some point. Our faith will face doubt and discouragement. Questions will go unanswered as the world tries to shake it. But the greatest struggle we will face is complacency.

When things are going well, we place our faith on cruise control. We roll along from week to week doing the things we have always done. Faith seems smooth and effortless until something brings us back to the real reason for our faith.

In early October, in the space of five days, we buried my Mother in Law and my Mother. Two trips to Michigan, two funerals to prepare and a thousand details to put together took a tremendous toll physically, emotionally and yes spiritually.

It is a blessing that my Mother and my Mother in Law left this earth knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior. For them, that week their faith became sight.

If there was one lesson we learned through these trials, it’s that faith is so much more than words in a book. Throughout these difficult days, we experienced faith in a way we never had before.

When we face the trials that Christ promised would come, faith becomes a living thing.

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 Faith Strengthens Us

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

This verse encouraged me in the dark times. Those times when the enemy whispered to my heart, “You can’t do this.” No I can’t, but He can through me!

The missing part of the equation when we face dark days is the power of the Holy Spirit Who is able to do the unexpected in our lives.

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Faith Sustaines Us

Hebrews 3:15b …I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

So many people asked how we were getting through such a trial. My answer is, “I don’t know how. I just know that through Him we did.”

There were so many times that week that we sensed His presence, His strength and His love in a very sustaining way.

Faith Comforts Us

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Faith for us that week, faith meant celebrating life rather than mourning death.

In both services I shared the thought that, “Something is not lost when you know where it is.” The Apostle Paul taught us that for a Christian, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. These special women were both women of faith. We take comfort in knowing where they are.

Satan wants us to consider death to be a loss. But Christ wants us to consider death to be a victory as He welcomes our loved one’s home.

I Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Today, Rachel Duff and Betty Butzer are laughing at the thing mankind fears most. They are laughing at death. The reason they can do so is because they had faith!

If you were to leave this earth today, would your loved ones have the same confidence about where you are?

If you would like to learn more about the faith of these women, visit my page, God and You!