Spiritual Grit
Sometimes the most fruitful faith is formed on the dry roads, where only His presence sustains.
Based on Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest
Photo Credit: Unsplash
In today’s reflection, Oswald Chambers unpacks the sobering moment when Jesus told His disciples that they would be scattered. But His tone isn’t harsh—it’s compassionate. He isn’t questioning the reality of their faith; He’s revealing the instability of it when it's still tied to comfort, circumstances, and emotional highs. He points out that the disciples’ scattering wasn’t a failure, but a divinely allowed experience meant to produce spiritual grit—a tested, resilient faith not driven by blessings or feelings, but by a deeper confidence in the Person of Christ Himself.
Chambers reminds us that there comes a point in the believer’s walk when God may separate us emotionally from His blessings—not to be cruel, but to root our faith in Christ alone. These moments feel like spiritual loneliness or dryness, but they are sacred seasons. They train us to walk by faith, not by sight or emotion. It’s in these times of desolation that we’re called to take heart, not because the world gets easier, but because Jesus has already overcome it.
Personalized Journal Entry
The Holy Spirit’s Voice Through Scripture
You have not been abandoned, even when your soul drifts through a wilderness with no signs of My presence. I have not hidden Myself to punish you—I have drawn you into deeper union. In this world, you will have trouble. But I call you to take heart because I have overcome the world.
I permitted the scattering so you would see that faith resting on blessings is still trembling on the surface. But your life is now hidden with Christ in Me, and your anchor is not in emotion but in My indwelling presence. When you walk through the valley, I am with you. I have seated you with Christ in the heavenly places, even as your feet touch the dust of the earth.
There is no darkness I have not filled with My light, no silence I have not infused with My voice. When the blessings are quiet and the comforts removed, My life in you remains. You live by faith, not by what you see or sense. My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.
The refining fire you walk through now is not the absence of My love—it is the shaping of your faith into gold that does not tarnish. I discipline those I love, not to wound but to prepare you for fullness. Let perseverance finish its work, so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. My joy remains in you, and no one can take it away.
(John 16:33; Colossians 3:3; Psalm 23:4; Ephesians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 5:7; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 12:6; James 1:4; John 16:22)
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, I thank You that I’m not meant to live by the fleeting warmth of blessings but by the eternal presence of Christ within me. I trust You even in the scattered places—when I cannot trace the outlines of comfort or predict what tomorrow holds. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and You are the Life in me regardless of how I feel. I rest today in the unshakable truth that Your overcoming victory is mine, not someday, but now. I take heart, not because I’ve conquered anything, but because You already have—and You live in me.
Amen.