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經文：「在信的人，凡事都能。」（可9:23） 有些時候神會刻意拖延我們的祈求，目的是為了教導我們信心的功課。因為在信心的學校中有許多必修課：例如信心的試驗、信心的實習、信心的忍耐、信心的毅力、信心的得勝等等，都是要花許多時間才能學會的。既然這些訓練可以鍛鍊出信心的堅韌；那麼當我們向神祈求卻沒有得到回應時，應該如何面對？ 是的，就是繼續相信神的話，不因眼見或感覺動搖，只要堅持下去，我們的能力和經驗就會增長。即使現實與應許之間看似矛盾，仍然堅定不移自己的信心與立場，那就可以鍛鍊出生命的堅固。這麼說來，神刻意的遲延，也是對我們所求的一種答覆。與所祈求的終於實現，具有等同的意義。 聖經中的偉人例如：亞伯拉罕、摩西、以利亞等，並非一開始就是如此有能，也都是經過信心的訓練以後，才能勝任神為他們所安排的地位。 例如約瑟；在詩篇一零五篇一九節說：「耶和華的話試煉他」。最考驗約瑟的，並不是囚犯生活的苦楚，而是神曾經在夢中應許他尊貴的人生；是神的話時時在試煉他的信心；因為對比他當下的經歷，這個應許幾乎是不可能實現；他正孤苦無依地身陷冤獄，真正的罪人倒被釋放。 約瑟在獄中無數次求神使他恢復自由，可是神卻故意遲延祂的答應，好讓約瑟在絕望中學到更多信心的功課。直等到他的靈性長進，「祂所說的應驗了」（詩105:19），等他能以愛心和耐心對待哥哥們時，神才將他放在宰相的地位上。 約瑟的經歷實在是令人難以承受；當神宣佈了心意之後，卻過了長久仍不實現；但這就是信心的訓練，也正是這樣的訓練能使我們更認識神。「叫你們的信心既被試驗，就比那被火試驗，仍然能壞的金子，更顯寶貴。」（彼前1:7） 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會 |
◇◇◇ Scripture: "All things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23). The "all things" do not always come simply for the asking, for the reason that God is ever seeking to teach us the way of faith, and in our training in the faith life there must be room for the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, the courage of faith, and often many stages are passed before we really realize what is the end of faith, namely, the victory of faith. Real moral fibre is developed through discipline of faith. You have made your request of God, but the answer does not come. What are you to do? Keep on believing God's Word; never be moved away from it by what you see or feel, and thus as you stand steady, enlarged power and experience is being developed. The fact of looking at the apparent contradiction as to God's Word and being unmoved from your position of faith make you stronger on every other line. Often God delays purposely, and the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes. In the lives of all the great Bible characters, God worked thus. Abraham, Moses and Elijah were not great in the beginning, but were made great through the discipline of their faith, and only thus were they fitted for the positions to which God had called them. For example, in the case of Joseph whom the Lord was training for the throne of Egypt, we read in the Psalms: "The word of the Lord tried him." It was not the prison life with its hard beds or poor food that tried him, but it was the word God had spoken into his heart in the early years concerning elevation and honor which were greater than his brethren were to receive; it was this which was ever before him, when every step in his career made it seem more and more impossible of fulfillment, until he was there imprisoned, and all in innocency, while others who were perhaps justly incarcerated, were released, and he was left to languish alone. These were hours that tried his soul, but hours of spiritual growth and development, that, "when his word came" (the word of release), found him fitted for the delicate task of dealing with his wayward brethren, with a love and patience only surpassed by God Himself. No amount of persecution tries like such experiences as these. When God has spoken of His purpose to do, and yet the days go on and He does not do it, that is truly hard; but it is a discipline of faith that will bring us into a knowledge of God which would otherwise be impossible. ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman |