Can You Lose and Not Lose Faith?

Can you lose and not lose your faith?

That's a question that will meet you at some point in life if it hasn't already.  Can we lose and not lose faith?  Can we miss the promotion and not lose faith?  Can we lose a loved one to cancer and not lose faith?  Can we be falsely accused and not lose faith?  Can we lose our spouse and not lose faith?  These are the crises of faith that come our way in life at one point or at many points.

Can we do everything right and then lose and not lose faith?  Can we have a mountain's worth of faith and still not get what we want and not abandon that faith when it doesn't "work"?  Can we suffer in spite of righteous living and still keep our faith intact?

A few Old Testament verses come to mind when thinking of this.

In the first Joab and his brother Abishai were fighting a large coalition of enemy forces.  They mustered up their forces and their faith for the battle.  They made a good plan as they fought for the LORD and His people and then Joab said this to his brother:

"Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of God.  The LORD will do what is good in His sight." 2 Samuel 10:12

Joab planned a course for success.  He pledge bravery and honor in the cause, but then he left the outcome up to God.  In saying this Joab trusted that God could give victory, but whatever the outcome, he trusted that God would do what is good in His sight.  What a statement of faith?

The second story is a more familiar story.  Remember in the book of Daniel when King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and demanded that the people bowed down to worship it?  All the people did but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to do such an evil thing.  The king became enraged and promised to throw them into the fiery furnace to kill them.  It was at this point that the three men said this:

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this manner.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16b-18

"But even if He does not..." What a statement of faith!  This is the kind of faith that can "lose" and not be lost.  This is the kind of faith that trusts God more than the outcome.

Now Joab got his victory and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were saved in the furnace, but sometimes we don't get what we've asked for.  Sometimes we lose but we can't afford to lose faith. 

Think of Jesus who was crucified after praying this:

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42

We must cultivate the kind of faith that can say, "We want God to do ______ but even if He does not we trust that His will will be done and His will is always good."  We must be able to lose and not lose faith today.