Last week in Bible study, we talked about the 400 year
period of time in which God was silent with his people.
Silent.
Have you ever gone through a period of your life in which
you felt the absence of God's voice?
Do you feel as though maybe you've never heard his voice
at all?
Then you know the confusion/doubt/anxiety/stress/hurt
that comes along with hearing nothing.
Looking back through the histories, we see the way in
which God worked it all out for his glory, his good (Oh Jeremiah 29:11, how you
plague me), but that is a very long time.
My question back to my bible study leader was this:
"How did Christianity survive?"
His answer made sense to me, but I am still pretty
cynical about the whole thing.
Christianity survived because there were those who kept
up, with obedience and faith, the practices of the church.
But for 400 years?
Of COURSE there were Pharisees by the time Jesus came
around, and how could we blame them? They had centuries of works with no
relationship to spur them on. Eventually, yah, wouldn't that lead you to
legalism?
They explained this as well by telling me that there were
both Pharisees as well as those still truly filled with hope, holding fast to the
assurances of the scriptures.
They kept up their faith on a promise, though they didn't
have firsthand knowledge of the content of that promise.
Once, when I was in Belfast, I met an ex-Christian. It was a rough day, and I was in no mood for a fight, but maybe I needed to have that semi-fight.
In the midst of him telling me how silly I was to believe
in a God and questioning why I would, I told him that sometimes, you just need
to. Not out of compulsion but because, sometimes, you need the lifeline
possibility that there is a reason for:pain/suffering/death/divorce.
That “sometimes” introduction can be the beginning of a
really beautiful thing. Not every relationship has a book-worthy beginning.
Jesus doesn’t really care how we come to him, though. He cares that we come at
all.
What happens when faith fails, though?
What should our response be in the times that suddenly
everything feels false, where prayer feels one-sided, when we ask for a
sign/answer/direction and receive nothing?
I don’t know.
In times I have felt that way, I have continued to pursue
all options on the hope and determination that God will start shutting doors if
I just start moving forward.
But what if all the doors open.
Or all the doors close.
What then?
Should I assume that the answers are all around me already if only I would sift through my own perceptions and bias to see them?
Should I assume God will bless wherever I choose?
Should I assume that the correct doorway has yet to appear?
When faith fails...it's time to redefine faith. Or, rather, to give thought to the definition of faith.
Faith: noun: complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Complete trust or confidence.
Man, I think the last time I had complete trust or confidence in someone was before I was aware enough to realize what I was doing.
As a baby, you may not consciously decide to put all your cards of faith in with your parents but, given your behavioral responses to them, it is evident that you do.
As babies, when we get hungry or are afraid, we cry.
If we did not anticipate a response of food or comfort, we would not cry.
Because we trust in the goodness and consistency of our parents, though, we know intrinsically that our tears will bring them immediately to our side. And, if not immediately, we know they will be there as soon as humanly possible, if only we will hold out for them.
The times our parents don't come are when they understand their children's tears enough to know when a response is not required, when it would ultimately serve their child best to self-sooth, even if it kills mom and dad to hear them wailing.
Maybe that's how it is with God.
Maybe he hears us cry and knows its time for self-soothing, to be empowered with the training he has already given us to reach our own conclusions.
For now, then, that's how I'll answer. When God seems silent, my spirit should reflect and turn quiet as well, looking, watching, and waiting for something I may not otherwise be able to perceive in my hysteria.
The Israelites cultured a spirit of faith, fed with promises, to sustain them.
Then, as he said that he would, their father, Jesus, came to soothe, save, and sanctify.
But what if all the doors open.
Or all the doors close.
What then?
Should I assume that the answers are all around me already if only I would sift through my own perceptions and bias to see them?
Should I assume God will bless wherever I choose?
Should I assume that the correct doorway has yet to appear?
When faith fails...it's time to redefine faith. Or, rather, to give thought to the definition of faith.
Faith: noun: complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Complete trust or confidence.
Man, I think the last time I had complete trust or confidence in someone was before I was aware enough to realize what I was doing.
As a baby, you may not consciously decide to put all your cards of faith in with your parents but, given your behavioral responses to them, it is evident that you do.
As babies, when we get hungry or are afraid, we cry.
If we did not anticipate a response of food or comfort, we would not cry.
Because we trust in the goodness and consistency of our parents, though, we know intrinsically that our tears will bring them immediately to our side. And, if not immediately, we know they will be there as soon as humanly possible, if only we will hold out for them.
The times our parents don't come are when they understand their children's tears enough to know when a response is not required, when it would ultimately serve their child best to self-sooth, even if it kills mom and dad to hear them wailing.
Maybe that's how it is with God.
Maybe he hears us cry and knows its time for self-soothing, to be empowered with the training he has already given us to reach our own conclusions.
For now, then, that's how I'll answer. When God seems silent, my spirit should reflect and turn quiet as well, looking, watching, and waiting for something I may not otherwise be able to perceive in my hysteria.
The Israelites cultured a spirit of faith, fed with promises, to sustain them.
Then, as he said that he would, their father, Jesus, came to soothe, save, and sanctify.
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