Misconception of Faith

Questioning God’s plan and purpose for our lives never gets resolved by our own human minds. His ways are beyond what our human minds can fathom and when we begin to doubt, question, compare, and wonder, we allow our sinfulness to take away from His omnipotence.

Isaiah 58:8-9
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We are under the misconception that god reveals all things to us, that He explains in great detail the steps of our lives, and that a faith in Him means a life with no questions, no pain, and no suffering. Faith is defined as a trust in what you cannot see, what you don’t always know, It is a complete trust without question. Faith is a choice, a process, a deep devotion to accepting that there is something greater than that of our selves. Faith is removing our own human logic, our selfishness, our self-edification and giving purpose and power to God who created a universe, keeps that universe on its axis, and created me, just a spec, on the scale of something so much grander and bigger than my own selfish universe.

I feel pain, panic, confusion and often times I feel that it’s God’s duty and responsibility to lift that pain, calm the panic, and bring understanding to my confusion. My God can do all those things, but more often than not it’s my own sin, my own selfishness, my own lack of faith, I am the one that places that burden on my own shoulders. God does not bring the pain, God brings the healing, and He provides the shoulders to carry what we can’t. He asks us to give Him what we can’t understand, what we can’t carry. He says to leave our burdens at His feet. He says to trust Him, to leave them, to let go. We wait around for closure, for understanding—when God says my grace is sufficient for you. When you can’t fathom why, when you can’t find reason, when purpose brings pain—Is God sufficient for you?

When you can’t answer why, do you trust that God knows why and that faith is moving forward when questions and doubt threaten to pull us backwards? We so often pray for direction and so often God answers those prayers and moves us, but yet we drag our feet, we question, we doubt, and we take our faith and turn it into pain. Pain is a miss focus of opportunity—every opportunity is one to trust and to give our faith to God. Opportunity is our way of giving god power but fear and doubt take away from the grace God so freely gives. Pain is fear, fear is doubt, and doubt strips away faith. Faith is a choice; faith is giving to God all that we can’t understand. It is finding opportunity with each breath we take and giving God all praise even when we have nothing left to give of ourselves.

I don’t understand why, but I choose to put my hope in the one who I know works all things to His infinite purpose.

Taking Root in Shaky Ground

Jeremiah 17:7

"But blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Growing up we aim to please our parents or those in authority over us. Our confidence comes in the acceptance and accolades of those who we desire respect and take pride from. We build our faith in ourselves and the world in how well we accomplish or succeed in what others find noble and honorable. I've always been one that has lived in fear of discouraging, disappointing, or failing in the eyes of others. I shaped my decisions, my desires, my interests around what others felt were acceptable or desirable because while I desired my own self-interest, I ultimately couldn't live with myself without the acceptance of others. Life then becomes a game of trying to live, make decisions, choose wisely your path in hopes of never having to walk alone, never having to feel invisible or abandoned because you didn't follow someone else's vision for your happiness.

We find our roots planted in someone else's garden and while we are growing, branching out, and maturing--we never feel a sense of ownership or self-identity because we leave ourselves vulnerable to be tended to by someone else. As humans--our confidence is always wavering, always dependent on something or someone else and we all fail, we all fall short and therefore when our confidence is rooted and grounded in those around us-- we are never safe, never firm, never stable because we are a people who stand on shaky ground, we are all lost, we are all desperate and dependent on another for our esteem, self-pride, and identity.

Not everyone thinks the same, acts the same, has the same interests, fears, or joys. We are created as individuals and yet spend our lives desperately trying to find companionship in the sense of self-awareness and acceptance. When someone doesn't agree with you, doesn't understand or accept your way of thinking--does this make your identity less worthy? less honorable? less right? No. Our trust and confidence are in the Lord--there is no fear or worry because God is faithful--He brings growth and harvest, an abundance within us in all seasons and all circumstances of our life. In a drought (loneliness), in heat (when decisions are hard or uncomfortable), God is faithful, He never changes, He is consistent in character and understands the uniqueness of His creation. We are never alone in Christ, He is never without a purpose or plan for our life and when everyone stands against us--it is our Lord who stands for us.

We are to live confidently in Christ--He alone is our confidence, our trust, our encouragement. In a world of instability and self centered disasters--it is God who places us on sold ground and comes to where we are. We please him not by conforming but by confronting those that oppose us and trusting in Gods plan and purpose for our own unique lives.