Your cry, though it be now unspoken before men, is not unspoken before God, for He who searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit. It is no strange thing that you should meet with mockers, for faith has always had her foes, and sometimes they live in the same house with her. They scoff at faith itself and count it the folly of weak minds, or they insult over one particular believer and say, he talks after this mad fashion to win a name for piety. Yet faith in God is not a thing to be scoffed at, but to be reverenced, for true religion is sanctified common sense, the most wise and proper and rational thing under heaven.
Take up then above all the shield of faith, for it quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked, whether they come from Satan, or from wicked men, or from your own doubting heart. When the enemy would push aside your shield and stab you under your armour, hold it fast. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even your faith. Little faith, when it finds itself in trouble, betakes itself to prayer. Peter began to sink, and he prayed, Lord, save me. So do you. Though your faith be but as a lone spark all but smothered under a heap of rubbish, Christ can spy it out and graciously accept it. He forgives the unbelief, but He owns the faith, be it ever so little. Pray still that admirable prayer, Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief, and remember that the Holy Spirit is the Creator not of the littleness of your faith, but of your faith itself.
You say, I must believe my prayer has already been answered. Here I would have you copy Jacob, who spread his case before the Lord and pressed his suit with holy arguments, pleading the promises. It is good to plead with God and to expect great things from Him, for the Lord has the ability and the inclination and He is under engagement to do you good, and He has already begun to do it. Yet learn this also, that if we are in the fire and we are trusting in God, our faith does not mean that we expect to come forth from the furnace at this very hour. We may not come out tonight, nor tomorrow, nor next month, it may be not for years. Jacob prayed and his prayer was answered, but not in the way he expected. God intends us to use our best judgment and then to fall back upon Him in confiding prayer just as if we had done nothing at all, and to leave the time and the manner of His answering with His infinite wisdom. By faith the Red Sea was dried up, and by faith the walls fell, but it was by faith that waited upon the Lord and did His bidding, not by faith that dictated to Him. So throw out the anchor of faith, and better still, keep the anchor out, that you may trust and not be afraid, saying with the Psalmist, What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.
Above all, see to it that your confidence is not in yourself, nor in a bare notion of mercy apart from Christ, for that is to trust in what you will never find. Brothers and sisters, it would be cheap faith to take Christ as the saints Savior, but it is the faith of Gods elect to take Him as the sinners Savior. Faith means trust in Christ, a dropping down into His arms who is both able and willing to save. We are justified by faith, and therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are twins born together, and that faith which allows a man to think lightly of past sin has not the faith of Gods elect. So I beseech you, look to Christ alone for salvation, and ask that every desire of your heart may be tried by His Word and conformed to His holy will. For marriage is His ordinance, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and all that pertains to it belongs within that covenant, and whatsoever is asked of God must be asked in submission to His revealed will and for His glory.
I will pray for you as one who bears your burden before the throne, that the Lord would keep you from evil, that He would replenish your lamp with fresh oil, for the Author of our faith must be the Finisher of it also, and that He would prove your faith by works that befit repentance. May He give you grace not to be ashamed of your hope though men revile it, and may He grant you that peace which comes by trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ alone, so that whether His answer be speedy or long delayed, you may rejoice in hope of the glory of God and say, I got it straight from the throne of God, and there can be no mistake about it.
