Faith Like Candy

It doesn’t take long in the life of any growing believer to wrestle with the fact that faith doesn’t always feel sweet. Faith is believing when the bully shows up on the playground. Faith is standing when the stakes get high and the dreams break. Faith is singing when some get the healing and others just get the fight. Faith is trusting when you’re the one who has to wait… or bleed. Faith is messy. Faith is real. Sometimes faith tastes like sugar. Sometimes it makes you pucker.

Personal Reflection 

Faith Like CandyCurt Brickley

3:54

I’ve known since at least the 1st grade that I was a magnificent problem solver. (Yeah… I’m being sarcastic.) How did I know? Great question!

There was this time when I came home from school with a not-so-well-groomed bald spot on the top of my head. During recess, with all the kids up & down and over & under the monkey bars, I ended up with a well-chewed, soft and sticky piece of taffy-like candy stuck to the top of my head! It was a Now & Later, and it didn’t just stick to my hair — it melted through my hair and adhered to my scalp! It was really in there.

Not a problem though. With those cute little snub-nosed scissors, I went to work! I clipped, cut, dug and scraped ‘til I was partially scalped but candy free! Problem solved.

Not entirely dissimilar, I’ve been wrestling with Hebrews Chapter 11, and there’s a problem that I’d like to just cut out! My problem isn’t with “the winners” — the ones who conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, and gained what was promised. My problem is with the losers no one wants to talk about — “the others.”

There are those who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, quenched flames, escaped the sword, and saw miraculous victory. We love those stories. We want that kind of faith — the “Now” kind.

But then Scripture says, “There were others…”

Others who were tortured, refusing to be released so they might gain a better resurrection. Others who faced jeers, flogging, chains, imprisonment, stoning, being sawed in two, and death by the sword. Others who wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground — destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them.

Both groups were commended for their faith. But only one group received what was promised in this life. The others had to wait for Later.

Maybe you’re feeling like one of “the others” right now. Maybe you’ve done everything right but your world is falling apart, your health is failing, and you just can’t seem to catch a break. If that’s you today, you are in great company.

Theme 

This song is about the kind of faith that doesn’t always feel like sugar.

Faith like candy — sometimes it’s sweet on your lips, sometimes you pucker. Sometimes you’re the Prius. Sometimes you’re the trucker. Some get the healing. Some get the fight. Some see the promise in this life. Others have to wait. Some have to bleed. Some never get what they need in this lifetime.

But both the heroes who conquered and the “others” who died with their work seemingly undone were precious in God’s sight. Both were shining in His light.

The song reminds us: • There’s the faith that shuts the lion’s mouth and the faith that watches the fire burn. • There’s the faith that tears the walls down and the faith that wanders with no place to go. • When this world feels cold and strange, fix your eyes on that better place — a heavenly country where you’ll see His face. • We’ll both be fine — the heroes and the others — commended in God’s sight.

Scripture Foundation 

• “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 11:1-2)

• “…who through faith conquered kingdoms… shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames… whose weakness was turned to strength…” (Hebrews 11:33-34)

• “There were others who were tortured… Some faced jeers and flogging… They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two… The world was not worthy of them.” (Hebrews 11:35-38)

• “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance… Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16)

• “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us…” (Hebrews 11:39-40)

Processing Questions 

Take a few moments and reflect: 

• Are you currently walking in “Now Faith” or “Later Faith”? 

• Where in your life does your faith feel more like sugar… and where does it make you pucker? 

• Have you ever felt like one of “the others” in Hebrews 11? How did (or does) that feel? 

• What would change if you truly believed this earth is not your home? 

• Who are you fixing your eyes on when the waiting gets long and the world feels cold?

  
  

Prayer 

Father, sometimes my faith tastes sweet. Sometimes it makes me pucker. Sometimes I get the victory now, and sometimes I feel like I’m just one of “the others” who has to wait.

Help me trust You either way.

When the fight comes, give me courage. When the waiting comes, give me endurance. When I don’t get what I need in this life, anchor my heart in the better country You’ve prepared.

I want the kind of faith that keeps singing even when it hurts. The kind that looks toward heaven and says, “I’m still Yours.”

Thank You that both the conquerors and the sufferers are precious in Your sight.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Closing 

Faith like candy. Sometimes sugar. Sometimes sour. But real faith keeps walking — whether you get it Now or Later. Fix your eyes on the city whose architect and builder is God. You are in good company. We’ll both be fine.