"I've failed the faith test—younger believers have more faith than I do after all my years."
How it sounds in your head: I should be a spiritual giant by now, but I watch new Christians have more boldness and expectation than me. What happened to my faith? Have I just gotten cynical and tired?
"And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
-- 2 Corinthians 12:9Source: Comparison and religious expectation that faith should increase linearly with years of Christian life.
He sees younger believers pray with confidence he once had but lost through disappointment. Years of church leadership where he had to 'have it all together' taught him to hide doubt, making him feel like a fraud.
Paul, who raised the dead and healed thousands, had a persistent 'thorn in the flesh' he begged God three times to remove. God said NO—not because Paul lacked faith, but because His strength is perfected in weakness, and Paul wrote half the New Testament from that place of acknowledged weakness.
I REFUSE the lie that I'm a faith failure because younger believers seem stronger. IT IS WRITTEN that God's strength is made perfect in MY weakness—my age, my weariness, my honest doubt is where His power rests. IT IS WRITTEN in Romans 8:1 that there is NO condemnation for those in Christ Jesus—none for being tired, none for feeling weak, none for honest questions. I am Abraham's seed by promise, and the barak protected Jacob the deceiver and Abraham the liar. My faith isn't measured by comparison to others; I am the righteousness of God IN CHRIST.
The Father doesn't compare you to younger believers—He sees you IN CHRIST, perfect and complete. Like the prodigal's father who threw the older son a party too, there's no competition for His affection, no ranking system in His house, just full sonship for all who come.