“To the faithful you show yourself faithful” (Psalm 18:25). When I was counseling Christian teenagers, some troubling concerns brought them to my office. Concerns like, “My boyfriend (or girlfriend) is dumping me” or “I’m afraid I’m losing my faith.” Young hearts are easily broken. So I handled the first concern with tender-loving care. But I was direct about the second. I told them, “The fact you are concerned about losing your faith is a pretty good indication you are not.” People lose faith when it slips away unnoticed. 

Maybe you’ve felt like these students did. They were taught so thoroughly about a strong faith, and theirs didn’t measure up. They wondered if theirs was good enough. They did things they were ashamed of, sometimes with their boyfriend or girlfriend. They let God down.

Simple as it sounds, I would talk to them about “monkey” faith and “cat” faith. I told them sometimes we are like baby monkeys. God gives us determination to wrap our arms around Jesus. We are aware we are hanging on to him. We hold on tight so we won’t fall. We feel God’s strength in our firm grasp of him. But sometimes we are like baby cats. We don’t feel secure about much. But God grabs us by the scruff of the neck and hangs on to us even while we flail away in uncertainty. We trust he won’t let go. And that is a perfectly good faith.