Fruits of a Spiritual Attack: Faith and Trust

Faith is a supernatural gift from God that is activated by the Holy Spirit. All we have to do to receive faith is accept it. In faith, we believe in an unseen God and all His truths without any concrete proof, and all that the Catholic Church teaches. People instinctively know through grace that God is real and present in their everyday lives. We only need to believe and put that faith into action. So faith is an incredible gift and a great treasure that the Lord continually offers us. I believe faith comes before trust because you have to have faith in God before you can place your trust in Him. You don’t automatically trust someone. You have to get to know them first. Then, you can come to trust them. God uses the difficulties and trials of this life to bring us closer to Him. To help us become more aware of His presence in our lives. God calls us to trust Him in all things. Sometimes that is easy, and sometimes it is hard.  

“My brothers, count it pure joy when you are involved in every sort of trial. Realize that when your faith is tested, this makes for endurance. Let endurance come to its perfection so that you may be fully mature and lacking in nothing.”

James 1: 2-4

In suffering, faith waivers, and we can doubt God and His love and care for us. Our faith is, in a way, tested through these trials. But I have found that it is through sufferings, such as spiritual attacks, serious illness, death, and even at times through our daily struggles, that faith is perfected and made strong. In my situation (and some of yours), a spiritual attack was the source of my suffering. But whatever it is that disturbs us, God uses that pain and uncertainty to transform us and our relationships with Him. We can easily become consumed by the heaviness of our trials. I believe we are supposed to be. It is how we begin to trust God. It is a process we will all go through many times over the course of our lives. That is because God doesn’t give up on us. He wants us to see that we can’t do everything on our own; we need Him. So He will allow as many trials as are necessary so that He can get our attention.

“There is cause for rejoicing here. You may, for a time, have to suffer the distress of many trials: but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing spendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears. Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you now believe in him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy, touched with glory because you are achieving faith’s goal, your salvation.” 

1Peter: 6-9

In a spiritual attack, God allows the evil one to torment a person. It is a spiritual darkness that haunts certain souls. A darkness so pervading, they believe they can never escape it. The devil uses this liberty that the Lord has allowed him to try to destroy the person, and, as a result, also their faith and trust in God. This is the devil’s primary objective. If he can convince a person that God has deserted them and doesn’t care about them, then he can ultimately destroy their faith and trust in the Lord. If he does that, the person may fall into despair and lose all hope. The spiritual battle we fight is fierce. It causes us to doubt our very survival at times. But Jesus never abandons us, no matter what the trial is. He is the light that shines in the darkness of suffering. He lights the way and, without our knowing, uses our difficulties to change us. We don’t understand when we’re in it, but God does. And we won’t escape them until those changes are complete. 

“I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Sometimes, the only way we can come to trust God is to experience a sense of loss of Him. At first, we cry out to God in our suffering, but there is no answer. That results in a feeling of abandonment by God. That is because He wants us to search for Him. So these feelings of abandonment ignite an intense struggle within to experience God’s presence once again. But God’s goal is to gain our trust and increase our faith in Him. So He will briefly reveal Himself in the darkest moments of battle, so that we may be encouraged. Then He removes His presence again. And this pattern continues. Why? So that we will persist in seeking Him and so that our love for Him will grow. It is like hide and seek. Jesus hides, and then, when the person feels there is no hope of His return, Jesus rushes in and fills them with His love and presence.

The gap between His absence and His presence depends on where the person is in the process. On how much they have learned and where God needs them to be. But without a doubt, this is how faith and trust are increased because they see, in these brief moments of God’s return, that Jesus has not left them alone. He has only hidden Himself from them for a time. They begin to see that their suffering has created a need for God, and this need moves them toward surrender. It takes time, but eventually they surrender everything to Him. All of their pain and fear, their doubt and confusion, and everything that has torn their life apart. Surrender, I believe, is key to healing. Because when we can surrender all to God, we see our limitations and place all our hope in Him. 

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.”

2 Cor 12:9

So suffering is a grace that draws us near to God. And over time, helps us to recognize that without Him, we can do nothing, and with Him, all things are possible. Even enduring a suffering we believe to be unbearable. Once God has brought us through these difficulties and healed us, our faith and trust in Him are restored. Now we glorify Him for our sufferings because we know that they are the reason we love Him so much. We praise Jesus for His love and mercy in saving us from these torments. And our hearts explode with gratitude for every moment of suffering because we see all that the Lord has done for us through them. He has led us down a new path, one that leads straight to His Heart. And now we have found peace in trusting Him and confidence in faith.

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