The Christian life on earth is filled with challenges and trials, so as Christians, we should expect challenges and trials; to think that we can walk through life without dealing with them is deceit. (John 16:33; James 1:2-4)
The Bible warns us that our faith will be tried and tested, but standing in faith gives us resounding victories. (1 John 5:4)
Challenges bring about trials and the testing of our faith.
Hence, the need to strengthen our faith before challenges and trials come. We shouldn't wait for challenging times before we build our spiritual armouries against them. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
For example, Israel as a nation had a lot of trials and political challenges, and this had taught them to continually reinforce their arsenal, strengthen their military base, and be battle-ready.
It would be disastrous for them to wait until an enemy launches an attack before they take this protective measure.
Likewise, a Christian should build a solid spiritual base or strength before challenging times.
To help us understand our topic of study, we will do a definition of some important words in the study.
• What is faith?
• What is the meaning of challenges?
• What does it mean to strengthen our faith in challenging times?
• Discipline and Spiritual discipline