Of Sunburns and Building Faith

I decided that I wanted to get a tan this summer. 🤪 

Having a light complexion and tending toward paleness or burns, I wanted to give it a shot and see how dark I could get. Anyway, since we’re in South Carolina right now, you can start getting color in March or April. 

Well recently, I saw the UV index was a whopping 7—meaning you can get a decent tan if you spend an hour or two in the sun. Sign me up! I thought. 

I put on shorts & a tank top and set up a chair in direct sunlight. Then… I just sat there. Nothing too noticeable happened, but I decided to believe that something had, and I felt good about it. 

A few hours passed, and I bumped my leg on the edge of the table and felt a strange stinging sensation. I touched my leg. It stung. Everything that touched my legs strung. Indeed, I had gotten sunburned. 

Y’all, this was March 11th. Where I come from (New England), you could be in the middle of a snowstorm on March 11th, not getting sunburned. This South Carolina weather is so weird! 😂 

I know that this is a kind of random story, but I actually learned a lesson through it. 

The more tan you are, the harder it is to get sunburned. Your skin builds up resistance to the UV index so that you can handle more and more sun. 

I believe that faith oftentimes works in the same way. The more faith that we have, the stronger we are when the enemy attacks us. 

The devil is always coming after us and our faith. He knows how dangerous it is for him when God’s people have complete faith & do not doubt. 

If we have no faith, we have nothing to stand on when we are spiritually attacked. Staying in faith is a fight (1 Timothy 6:12) that is a full time job! 

When I was sunburned that night and wondering how I was going to get to sleep, one thing was evidently clear to me: my skin wasn’t prepared for the amount of exposure I got to the sun, and I was now bearing the painful results of that. 

But, there’s a big difference in suntanning & walking by faith: you can choose when you sit in the sun, but you don’t have a say in when the enemy attacks you. 

Out of nowhere, we are faced with difficult temptations, overwhelming fears, and lies from the devil’s itinerary. In those moments, we can’t pause time so we can build up our faith. It’s game on. With no warning, we are thrust into a battle where faith is the key to victory. But are we prepared?

The warning we are given in 1 Peter 4:7 is so insightful into this fight of faith: “The end of all things is near, therefore be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” 

The same message is reiterated in the next chapter, but in a bit more depth. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”

I believe that it’s so important to be intentional about building up our faith. The more we set our minds on the things above (prayer, encouraging one another, meditating on Scripture, etc.), the stronger our faith gets. We become more resilient & are prepared for when our faith is under attack. 

The power to overcome is not found within us, but rather from the Holy Spirit who lives in us. As Zechariah 4:6 says, “ ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

Today, I encourage you (and also preach to myself!) to be intentional about filling your mind & heart with things that will strengthen your faith. Whether that’s dwelling on stories of God’s faithfulness, meditating on Scriptures, praying in the Spirit, talking about the Lord with others, or whatever that looks like for you & me, let’s do it! 

The enemy will try to steal, kill, and destroy our faith—don’t let him! 

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 

1 John 5:4