Proverbwise

It is my pleasure to share the story of one of my former students who has truly become a man of faith! 

-Kim Olachea

A Season of Faith’s Perfection

By Michael Sherry

The idea of summer—and my daughter Lily’s 7^th birthday—rapidly approaching has caused me a greater amount of self-reflection over the past decade of my life than usual. As I watch her continue to grow older, I often ask myself how my outward display of faith might look through her innocent eyes.

The short answer is: It’s far easier to fool adults, than children.

Faith is usually most evident in our lives when we are undergoing some kind of extreme adversity, and in my life, the greatest of trials I have ever faced is one that I brought upon myself. For the first three years of my marriage, I failed to love and respect my wife as the Lord commanded, and as she deserved. The result of my actions was a devastating separation.

Raising a child in a broken household is something I wasn’t spiritually prepared for, because I never imagined it would happen to me. In the beginning, separation was an ugly battle of inner turmoil, where I was continually getting pulled into what seemed like a terrible, endless cycle of hope and despair.

Struggling. Failing. Trying to figure out how to deal with the shame and disappointment that came with all of my mistakes. Attem

pting to cope with rejection. And after exhausting all other options, finally turning to God for guidance.

Trapped in a perpetual shampoo algorithm —lather, rinse, repeat.

“A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).”

It wasn’t until I discovered that my faith wasn’t based on trusting God’s sovereignty at all, but on my own faulty expectation that at some point, He was going to witness my sorrow and mercifully deliver me from the trial I  was facing (so I could go back to being “happy” and knowing what peace felt like), that the day-to-day cycle finally began to break.

With that revelation, I realized that instead of just asking God in some ambiguous fashion to (once again) grant me an extra measure of faith that “good would prevail,” I had to start asking myself some tough questions.

“What am I putting my faith in?”

“Is my faith even real? And if it isn’t…what does real faith look like?”

I wasn’t entirely sure how to begin answering those questions, but I did know I was tired of being the kind of man who, like James described, observed his natural face in the mirror, and immediately forgot who he was when he walked away (James 1:23-24).

All throughout that difficult time, I had the divine blessing of numerous brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ surrounding and uplifting me, and it was nothing short of their fervent prayers, edification, and when necessary, their rebuke, which gave me the strength to continue fighting the good fight and keeping my eyes faithfully fixed on the Lord. In the succeeding months, I started to witness an internal transformation as the Lord began to soften my heart of stone, and mold me into a new creation.

Though the path was fraught with peril, my spiritual development appeared—for the most part—to be strongly moving forward, until May of 2015, when I received a text message containing probably the most difficult string of words I have ever read, and it shook whatever faith I had to the core. In an instant, the prospect of the happy future I was still seeking, and all hope I had of reconciliation, shattered completely. Staring at my phone in disbelief, I felt defeated, and hopelessly alone. Just as God’s Word had so accurately warned, my sin was truly giving birth to death.

As I stood on the precipice of defeat, a good friend of mine, and fellow brother-in-Christ, emailed me an older sermon preached by John MacArthur, entitled, “The purpose of trials” (If you haven’t personally listened to this sermon, I highly recommend it). I won’t go into full detail describing it, but I want to briefly highlight a few excerpts. It began with a letter written to MacArthur by a man who had recently lost his wife to a brain tumor, and nearly lost his newborn daughter to spinal meningitis at the same time. Somehow, despite the terrible tragedy he was facing, he never ceased to praise God and continue rejoicing, even in the midst of his suffering.

After finishing the letter, MacArthur went on to recount, arguably, the greatest illustration of faith contained within the pages of the Bible. The story of Abraham and Isaac. Though I had heard and read it countless times, I can honestly say those words never resonated within me as greatly as they did that day. Of course, I knew that walking this earth was an automatic guarantee trials would come. But regardless of how prepared any of us are to follow God faithfully through adversity, standing face-to-face with the despairing notion of having to sacrifice your child, your ONLY child—a child of promise, no less—as a dad, myself, I simply could not begin to fathom the depth of Abraham’s resolve to follow such a command with steadfast obedience.

As I listened to the sermon, I broke down and wept. Such a hard-hitting, convicting message, speaking directly to my soul, as if God was telling me to continue trusting in Him despite the present circumstances. A question my dad often posed to me in past moments of uncertainty, came to mind.

“If God seems so far away, guess who moved?”

I already knew the answer. The onus was on me to seek the Lord, and draw closer to Him (James 4:8). But could I ever possibly possess such an incredible degree of faith as to know that God is truly always with us? That no matter what evil the enemy means to cause us, He will always work everything out for our good (Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28)?

Yes. That is what it means to have real faith—to step forward in complete trust, sometimes illogically, blindly, and without hesitation. God puts us through the crucible, and allows us to be refined by fire, for His own sovereign purpose. The trials we endure exist in order to continually redirect our perspective, allowing us to identify and divide the significant from the insignificant elements within our lives; a practice that leads to a state of perfect understanding that God and His grace, alone, are sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Every day is still fraught with peril, because this world is full of evil and we are not yet with the Lord in glory, but setting my face toward the Kingdom has become my greatest source of comfort and strength, and in my darkest hour, it has illuminated my path and provided me with direction. As I continue to watch Lily grow older, I’m lead by my personal conviction to show her what a righteous man of faith looks like, that she, too, may one day trust in the Lord with all her heart (Proverbs 3:5), and come to understand the beautiful peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

Michael Sherry originally hails from South Jersey, where he lived most of his life until he was called by the Lord out to Greenville, SC in 2014. He is the proud father of a precious 6-year-old little girl named Lily, who is his pride and joy. He is a graduate of Blackwood University and holds a degree in Sound Engineering, and has utilized his experience to assist various churches on the East coast with audio production. In addition to his passion for audio production, Michael is a self-taught musician and vocalist, and enjoys writing songs and composing original music scores. He has also previously served as a drummer and guitarist in multiple worship teams, getting his start in his high school chapel group back in 2004-2005. In 2016, Michael relocated to Savannah, GA and became a licensed EMT. He currently works as an ER Technician for Memorial Hospital in Savannah.

Michael experienced a renewed relationship with Christ in 2013, when he faced many life-changing situations that led him to grow into a deeper, more intimate relationship with the Lord. His job as a civil servant allows him to show compassion to God’s people, and care for those in need. Michael hopes to share the love of the Lord Jesus Christ with the world, by helping people find the greatest source of light in the midst of life’s most difficult trials.

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:34-40