As we sometimes tend to glamorize the faith of the saints in Scripture, and as we wish that we had faith and like theirs, let us remember:

Jacob was only different after God pinned him to the ground and gave him a permanent limp.

Esther only found faith and courage after losing her family and being forced into a marriage to a pagan king.

Moses didn’t have miracle working faith and power until after he had somewhat shipwrecked his life and spent 40 years tending sheep in the middle of a desert before God opened a door for a second chance. Moses walked through it when it finally opened.

Joseph was not blessed with favor and power until he endured betrayal from his family, the humiliation of slavery, being falsely accused of rape and spending years in prison. It was only after this that Joseph ruled in Egypt.

Ruth buried her young husband after he became sick and died. She left her familiar homeland with nobody to care for her. She was forced to survive off of leftover crops in a field in Israel. She was rejected by a man who was next in line to marry her. All this occurred before God blessed her with godly Boaz who loved her deeply, married her, radically changed her life and placed her in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

King David was the most famous king Israel has known up to this point. The current national flag of Israel bears the Star of David as its image. David was anointed king as a teenager but then went back to tend sheep until God’s timing came. He was later hunted by the insane King Saul who tried to kill him in fits of jealous, paranoid rage. Betrayal and rejection were constant in David’s life. He endured agony before his glorious reign was permanently secured.

Paul was hated by every segment of society. He spent most of his Christian life suffering physically, emotionally and spiritually. He was lied about. He was abandoned. He suffered the loss of all things. He tirelessly worked, deprived of comfort, food and rest in many seasons. He never retired. Ultimately he had his head removed for the cause of Christ before he could ever enter the fullness of his inheritance. His faith was forged in pain and sacrifice.

And then there was the renown suffering of Job whose story needs no repeating.

You and I can wish for the level of faith that the saints of Scripture possessed.

Wishing for greater faith is easy.

Paying the price as it is built in us and released out from us is an altogether different issue.