A dear friend of mine shared, through tears, a hidden blessing she received through hardship and discipline. She always had faith, but when she fell, wallowed in the muck of sin, and was raised up, forgiven and embraced in the arms of Yeshua her Savior, her faith was tested and changed. It was no longer based on what she thought was right, but upon the certainty of experienced love. This was a profound statement, I suspect few of us would be so bold to share it through tears, as did she, without a faith so deep and sure. 

I wonder and believe if the same hope and experience may be ahead of the church in America. For generations believers in America have professed faith in Jesus, we have filed into churches and articulated and practiced our faith in many different expressions, each with it’s own distinct brand over the door. This has happened in relative ease and comfort through the decades after WWII. Today, America and the Church is under siege and the foundations are under attack. If things progress and proceed as they are heading great hardship and discipline in upon the horizon. 

We see the Middle East and Asia at war, other parts of the world in unprecedented drought and famine, tensions in high alert and refugees in record numbers. When the news of war, famine, and disaster becomes reality in American, the hardship and discipline will cause the church to return to Yeshua, her Savior. When that relationship is restored upon a new level of our need and His grace, forgiveness, love and power the Congregation of Believers will emerge into a new level of tested faith. 

We thought we were doing just fine until the enemy got a foothold and we wallowed in selfishness. God does not despise our weak faith. (Matt. 12:19-20) He longs for a faith that will emerge as Jonah did from the belly of a whale with a message and calling so clear and empowered that a nation will hear and repent. (Jonah 3:6-10) Yeshua’s love is so great He will bring us through to another higher level of faith, one born of experience in the crucible. (Prov. 17:3) The Congregation of Believers will be filled and empowered with  Love that passes understanding and faith that can move mountains. The enemy will be routed and the Congregation will move in the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. (Prov. 27:21)