This is a world of instant results. However, some things are better with time. Take oatmeal, for example. There’s nothing like slow-cooked,creamy oatmeal. I don’t care for the instant variety.  It tastes a little like sand.

Our faith is like that. We want the satisfaction of an unshakable faith without the ingredient of time. Slow-cooked faith is the kind that becomes strong.

Look at the great men and women of faith in the Bible. The famous Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 speaks of Abraham, Noah, Sarah and other well-known Bible heroes.

We often focus our attention on the outcomes of their faith.God provided a ram for Abraham so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice Isaac. Noah built an ark which saved his family – and humanity.  Sarah gave birth at the age of 90. 

However, leading up to their faith victories, each one went through either long or agonizing experiences that built their faith. 

In the dramatic story told in Genesis 22, Abraham faced sacrificing his own son at the Lord’s command. Can you imagine the pain he was living within his walk to the altar with his son? Through the many years before that walk, Abraham had developed a relationship with God that caused him to be obedient when the stakes were high.

Even in his pain that day, he believed God for a miracle provision so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice Isaac. That kind of faith is not produced overnight.

Slow cooked. There’s no instant package when it comes to faith.

God provides events in our lives to strengthen our faith. Enduring difficult circumstances moves us closer to the Lord and makes our faith more solid. When we respond right.

Take an inventory of your experiences this past week. Do you recognize some of these as God’s ingredients to build your faith? They don’t all have to be major challenges or difficulties. Little things also build our faith.

How did you respond to these difficulties? Were you annoyed, flustered, angry and discouraged?  Or did you endure, trust, hope and see God in the midst of them?

The Lord desires to build your faith as strong as Abraham’s. Are you willing to be tested to the level it will require to get there?

Faith is developed in the real world with life’s challenges. May God give you his perspective today when you face faith-building experiences.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”  (James 1:2-3 ESV)

From my book Your Life With God: 30 Days of Faith, available in January on Amazon.