Unbreakable Faith

By F. D. Adkins

A few weeks ago, my daughter came in with a disposable camera. She was so excited to show it to us and gave us detail by detail instructions on how it worked. She explained to my husband and me how you snap the picture and then twist the lever to advance the film and how, when the camera is full, you take it to the store to be developed. We were a bit surprised at her fascination considering the technology at her fingertips today. 

However, I have to say, if I did not grow up in the era of disposable cameras, I would be just as fascinated as her because I love collecting old things. If you are familiar with some of my older posts, you are probably aware that my husband and I are building a house. One of my favorite parts of excavation was the treasures that my husband would dig up with the tractor. And I understand that old bottles and jars may not sound like treasure to everyone, but I was astonished at the condition of these glass bottles and jars that had been buried in the ground. For example, look at the two milk bottles in the photo above. Now, I am not an expert, but from my internet search, these appear to be from the 1950s. They are the size that would have been served with school lunch, and there is an old schoolhouse not far from the land where we are building. So, I envision some children trudging through those woods on their way home from school, stopping to rest beneath a giant shade tree, and leaving the bottles behind. And now, sixty to seventy years later, my husband digs up these bottles with the backhoe attachment on his tractor. I brought them home and washed them up, and to my surprise, there was not even a chip in the glass. The glass is in perfect condition. Think about that. Sixty to seventy years of dirt, rocks, weather, and then the giant teeth on the backhoe, and these bottles held up.

Life is full of trouble, trials, and tribulations, and I hope you were able to read my post a few weeks ago about my grandmother’s amazing faith because her faith was like these glass bottles. Her faith stood unbreakable. When it must have felt like her world was crashing down around her, her faith didn’t crumble. When the stormwaters raged, her faith didn’t get washed away. When there was gnashing of teeth, her faith didn’t crack.

This week I continued to search through my Bible on the topic of faith and standing strong in the battle with the enemy. I want to have faith that stands against those arrows. I want to have faith that can stand against the elements the world throws at me (strong like the glass in those milk bottles). I want to have faith like my grandmother.

The Bible says we must have faith to please God.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (KJV).

The Bible also says that our faith will be tested.

1 Peter 1:7 says, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (KJV).

AND

James 1:3 says, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (KJV).

Now, take a look at these final verses from my study this week.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 KJV

So, how do I keep my faith strong? I lay aside all those things that can bring me down and pull me away from God, and I look to Jesus.