Shipwrecked Faith

All of us hope for clear sailing in the sea of life. But there are storms that come our way, and there are shipwrecks that we will encounter. We will have things happen in our lives that don’t make sense.

The apostle Paul went through three literal shipwrecks during his lifetime (see 2 Corinthians 11:25). Now, that would cure you of ocean travel. But Paul also wrote about people who had their faith shipwrecked. In his epistle to Timothy, he warned, "Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples . . ." (1 Timothy 1:19–20).

Some people have had their faith shipwrecked. I have seen it happen. Sometimes when people are facing a tragedy, they say, "I’ve lost my faith through this."

But let me say in response that maybe they didn’t have real faith to begin with, because the faith that cannot be tested is the faith that cannot be trusted. The Bible says that "when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow" (James 1:3).

If your faith can’t stand a test, then it is not real faith—and quite frankly, I am glad you lost it. Get rid of it, and replace it with real faith in a real God. When Christians go through a time of crisis, our faith should not be destroyed. We should not lose it. Instead, our faith should grow stronger because we are clinging to the Lord through all of it.

A storm is coming—maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, maybe not for a month, maybe not for a year. But a storm will come eventually. So be prepared for it.