Yes, faith can be easily lost in difficult times because we judge God by our own timetable and conclude He is doing nothing.
Les Feldick points out that man doesn't go on God's timetable and gets impatient when waiting stretches on. Abraham waited fifty years for Isaac, and even he reached the point of taking matters into his own hands. Yet God can call things that are not as though they were and keep His promises at the appointed time.
Genesis 18:14 — Asks whether anything is too hard for the LORD and promises Sarah a son 'at the time appointed,' showing why delayed answers are not failures.
Romans 4:17 — Describes God as the one who 'calleth those things which be not as though they were,' so promises that seem impossible are still certain.
Hebrews 11:6 — Explains that without faith it is impossible to please God, which is why losing faith has such serious consequences.
Scripture repeatedly connects faith with trusting God's word rather than what circumstances look like. In Genesis 15:6 we read, 'And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.' When Sarah laughed at the idea of bearing a child in her old age, the LORD responded, 'Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son' (Genesis 18:14). Paul draws on this in Romans 4:17, describing the God 'who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.' Hebrews 11:6 also tells us that 'without faith it is impossible to please him.'
Les Feldick explains that losing faith under pressure has a human cause: we measure God by time, not eternity. He uses Abraham's long wait to make the point. When God first gave the promise of a son through Sarai, Abram was only about fifty years old. Twenty-five years later he was still waiting at seventy-five, and at eighty-six he and Sarai decided God was not going to do anything, so they produced Ishmael through Hagar. God did not give the promised son until Abraham was a hundred — a fifty-year wait. From the human side, Les says, 'No wonder the poor guy got impatient.' Les also teaches that God's timing operates differently from ours: 'Man doesn't go on God's timetable. We get impatient. But with God who is eternal, time doesn't mean anything.' He illustrates this by saying that twenty years of his own waiting for the Lord to call the church up is 'not even a split second' to God. When difficult times make faith feel crushed, Les directs us back to God's word and His sovereignty. When God speaks, that is when He expects His people to believe it. God can take 'that which is nothing' and make it something, so no promise is truly impossible for Him.
When God first promised Abram that a nation would come from his own body and from Sarai, Abram was about fifty years old. He was seventy-five when he left Haran to go into Canaan — twenty-five years later. At eighty-six, after another fourteen years of waiting, Abram and Sarai decided that God wasn't going to do anything, so Abram had a child by Hagar. Isaac was not born until Abraham was one hundred years old, meaning Abraham waited fifty years. As Les puts it, 'No wonder the poor guy got impatient.'
Les Feldick teaches that man simply does not go on God's timetable. When God's promise takes years to arrive, we get impatient and begin to assume God is not acting. But with God, who is eternal, time doesn't mean anything. Les compares twenty years of his own waiting for the rapture to 'not even a split second' in God's time, showing that a long delay for us is no delay at all for God.
Scripture records God's question to Abraham and Sarah: 'Is any thing too hard for the LORD?' and His announcement that Sarah would have a son 'at the time appointed.' Paul says God 'calleth those things which be not as though they were,' and Les emphasizes that God created everything out of nothing and can make something out of nothing. What looks impossible by human reasoning is nothing for God.
Hebrews 11:6 says 'Without faith it is impossible to please God.' Les explains that God looks for faith first and foremost, and when He doesn't see faith, there is nothing He can do. He uses Esau as an example: Esau may have looked good by worldly standards, but God could not use him because he had no faith. God remains sovereign and does not need to prove Himself to anyone.
God Calls Nothing into Being
Les explains that God created everything out of nothing and can take what is nothing and make it something, so no promise is too hard for Him.
Abraham's Faith Counted as Righteousness
Abraham believed God even when the promise seemed impossible, and God counted that belief as righteousness.
Abraham's Fifty-Year Wait
Les traces Abraham's wait from about age fifty to age one hundred, showing why even a man of faith could get impatient while waiting for God's promise.
Man's Impatience Versus God's Eternal Timing
Les teaches that man does not go on God's timetable and that with God time means nothing, which explains why we lose faith during long delays.
Faith Responds When God Speaks
Faith is not jumping ahead of God but believing the moment He speaks, just as Noah waited until God told him to build the ark.
God Looks for Faith First
Les says God looks for faith first and foremost, and when He doesn't see faith, there is nothing He can do.
Nothing Is Too Hard for the Lord
Les asks if God, who has already done great things, can make a woman of ninety and a husband of a hundred have a child, and answers that it is nothing for Him.
Without Faith It Is Impossible to Please God
Les uses Esau as an example of someone who could not be used by God because he had no faith, showing why faith is essential in hard times.
Genesis 15:6: And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
This is the foundational faith response Abraham modeled — trusting God's promise when it seemed impossible.
Genesis 16:16: And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
This shows Abram's age when he and Sarai took matters into their own hands through Hagar.
Genesis 18:14: Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
This verse confronts the doubt Sarah and Abraham felt, showing that God's appointed time is certain.
Genesis 21:5: And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
This documents the fulfillment of the promise after a fifty-year wait.
Romans 4:17: (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Paul draws on God's power to call nothing into existence to show why Abraham could keep believing.
Hebrews 11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
This is the reason losing faith matters — God cannot be pleased without it.
Les says Abraham got impatient and even took matters into his own hands with Hagar when he was eighty-six, but God's word remained sure. God counted his earlier faith as righteousness, and ultimately Isaac was born when Abraham was a hundred.
Les teaches that man does not go on God's timetable and that with God time means nothing. Instead of expecting God to act on our schedule, we should recognize that God can call what is not as though it were and that He is sovereign.
Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. Les explains that God looks for faith first and foremost, and when He doesn't see faith, there is nothing He can do.
Watch the Teaching: The Truth About Grace, Faith & Abraham — Romans 4:13-25