The fact is that sometimes if you respond rightly to the Word of God and if you believe what it says, it will not bring you peace. It will upset you and disturb you and overwhelm you and give you turmoil. And in that case, it is a turmoil that is of the fruit of faith and is a right kind of disturbance.
George S. Patton and his US third army, overran one of the death camps, the concentration camps of the Germans on 12 April 1945 [during World war II]. And, as you perhaps know, George Patton was one of the most hard-beaten officers in the Unites State army. But George Patton walked through those death rooms and he turned away with tears in his eyes, and he was uncontrollably ill. So what do you say to old General Patton? Do you say to him, what is the matter with you, George? Are you a wimp or a softy? Can’t you take it? No! We say, that is the way he ought to have responded to what he saw. That was the right response. It upset him; it disturbed him, but that was right. Sometimes you in your Christian life need to know the turmoil and be upset, perhaps over what the Word of God says, is the right believing response and it is an evidence of faith, not of a lack of faith.
You see, you need to hear this, because sometimes we slip into the idea that if we really have faith, we will basically be on a placid level; we will have real peace. Well, sometimes that is the case, but it is not always the case. Sometimes the Word of God can disturb us, when we embrace it in faith. You need to know that for your encouragement, that you may not be so far off base after all. The turmoil faith can know.1
Ralph Davis
16 I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.