Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Monday Meditations.

To start the week off right, the phrase we're going to be meditating on is forging faith.

There comes a time in our life where we feel this moment of quiet ache.

And sometimes it's late at night when your prayers feel like whispers that are just lost in the wind.

And you lay your head down on your pillow in exhaustion, but your mind will not stop.

I hate this. My mind will not stop racing. No matter what I do, it won't stop. And you've cried into the

fabric of your pillow and it just seems that heaven is silent. And somewhere in that silence,

a question starts to form. God, have you looked away from me? And we know the answer is no, but we still feel that ache.

Every believer will come to this threshold where what we feel collides violently with what we believe.

Because you know God is your refuge. I know God is my refuge. And you've recited Psalm

91, but the storm hasn't passed. It's still lingering. And you wonder, if he is my fortress,

why do I feel so exposed right now? But this is not where your faith ends. I want to encourage you on something.

This is where your faith begins. This is where your faith is forged. Because faith is not proven

in what you can see. It is proven in what you cling to when you cannot. But there are three unchanging truths to stand on when you feel that God is really far away.

And the first one is when you feel powerless, there is still something you can do.

You cannot command the storm, but you can speak truth into the wind.

Even if you have to say it aloud, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. That is not an empty ritual. That is spiritual war. Your job is obedience. God's job is everything else. but yours is obedience. And when you declare his name over your fear,

you are not weak. You are armed for the spiritual battle. And the second one is just because you can't

see it doesn't mean that God isn't doing it. There are two

realms always at work, the unseen world and the seen world. And in the physical, it looks

like nothing is changing. But in the spiritual, walls are shaking. Chains are loosening and

doors are being open in places you haven't even walked into yet.

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