Untested faith may be real faith, but it will be small faith—and it will stay dwarfish as long as it goes untried. Listen! Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her. Tempests are her trainers. Lightning strikes are her illuminators.

Think of it this way. When calm reigns on the sea, spread every sail you have—that ship won't move toward harbor. On a slumbering ocean, even the keel sleeps. But let the winds come rushing and howling! Let the waters lift themselves up! Yes, the vessel will rock. Yes, waves will wash across her deck. Yes, the mast will creak under the pressure of full and swelling sails. But that's when she makes headway toward her desired haven.

No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those that grow at the foot of frozen glaciers. No stars gleam so brightly as those that glisten in the polar sky. No water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid desert sand. And no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity.

Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers. And you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. The hard truth is this: faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.

But let me not discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them—the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have. Praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained. Walk according to that rule, and you shall have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith removes mountains and conquers impossibilities.