Frustrating week of earthly challenges didn’t test my faith, it amplified it

I’ve had many challenges this past week. Not that you haven’t had your share of challenges, too. That’s life. Even so, this past week really tested my patience and my faith.

As a Christian, I’m always self-checking; I want to know if I am where I need to be with the Lord, if I passed the latest life test. Sometimes, the cares of the world (or as it was in my case, the cares of my house) can come between you and your faith. I don’t want that to happen to me because it is important that I walk the talk.

So, this is how it went down. Early in the week, in the middle of 90-degree-plus weather, the air conditioning decided to get sick. I changed the batteries in the thermostat. It wasn’t the batteries. I turned it down to the coolest point. To my disappointment, it jumped right back up to the mid-80s. As the temperature outside got hotter, so did the inside of my house.

Nights were not too bad. After the sun set, the thermostat went down to about 79. The ceiling fan in my bedroom helped me to sleep quite comfortably. I drank a lot of water to stay hydrated. And you know what that means for a woman of 86.

While I was dealing with the heat, my plumbing went bad. The water in my kitchen sink started coming out as a drizzle, and later almost nothing at all. To add to my distress, the hot water heater went out and I had to take cold showers. Let me tell you, I don’t care how hot it is outside, it is not pleasant to have to take cold showers at my age.

As the week came to an end, things got better. Thanks to my brother Adam, and to my brother-in-the Lord Royce Moore, who is a Jack of all trades, the air conditioner now works, a new hot water heater has been installed and I am back in business in the kitchen.

Looking back over the week, the challenges I faced seemed at the time like mountains I didn’t know if I would ever be able to climb over. But while I was dealing with it all, a favorite passage in the Bible came to mind: “Be anxious for nothing. But with prayer and supplication make your request known to God.”

That’s what I did. I prayed and asked the Lord to make a way for me to meet these earthly challenges. More than anything else, I prayed for the Lord to increase my faith. I knew God would come through, or as we like to say in my church, “make a way” for me. I just didn’t know how or when. That’s where my patience, as well as my faith, had to kick in. The Lord knows how to take care of His business. My job, as a believer, is to wait and have faith.

When I became a Christian, accepting the Lord as my Savior, I learned early on,that I could take the Lord at His word. I learned that I could really “cast my cares” on Him, because He really does care for me. This deep-seated faith is how I made it over.

This newfound faith came in handy when, as a young, widowed mother, I had

two sons and no idea what to do with them, how to bring them up to be men of integrity. I was clueless. But through prayer and fasting and learning from my elders, I got my sons safely to adulthood. I thought about those early days as a young single mother and how the mystery of motherhood unfolded in front of me one day at a time and one incident at a time.

My faith has been tested many times. And I didn’t always pass the test. But also learned that it is OK to ask the Lord to increase your faith. Faith is a growing thing. It grows a little more each time the Lord comes through for you.

So, my friends, as I was going through the deep waters of last week’s challenges, I kept saying to myself, “this is just a test”. Then I’d pray, “Lord, help me to pass it; help me to go through without complaining. And help me to be more aware of the many people who are homeless, and those who can’t walk into a kitchen with hot and cold running water. Help me to be thankful in all my circumstances.”

I got through last week. And for now, life is back on the right track. While it was not pleasant being inconvenienced, I know that I am blessed. Things could have been so much worse.

Now, as I look back, I ask this question: “Lord, did I pass the test?”