Thursday Thinking - Deciding to Believe

My Lenten sermon series for this year is entitled, Never Forsaken. Each week I'm exploring the many ways and times Christians struggle with thoughts and feelings of being forsaken by God. My premise for the series is that a fear of abandonment by God makes it impossible to live the Christian life. Faith, as the Hebrew writer says, is being sure of what we hope for and confident in what we do not yet see. Jesus faced faced the harsh reality of the cross in the full confidence of God's faithfulness. He faced death, believing in resurrection.

How can Christians live in hope, obedience, service, and joy when our world is so messed up, our lives are so broken, and our trials are so many? How can we not lose heart, when outwardly we're wasting away? How? It's a very good question. The answer? -- Our belief in the promises of God, our confidence in the Spirit's comforting power to sustain us, and our expectant hope that Christ will return to set all things right.

One of the dear friends in my church family, Becky, writes a personal blog that chronicles the joys and trials of her family's journey. She writes about their simple pleasures and their heartbreaking struggles. Some days she might post about something funny, and other days she might share a prayer request. Sometimes she will share photos of her kids, and other at times she will generously give you a portrait of her heart.

Today, with Becky's permission, I want to share her post from Monday, February 25. I really appreciated her thoughts about being in worship with our Valley church family the day before. It's filled with good things to think about.

HOW?
Yesterday, I participated in an incredibly bizarre ritual.

I went to a place where a group of over 100 people stood in a room for a purpose.  I know many of them.  I know some of them very well.

If you were to have looked around the room, whether you knew it or not, you would see the following:

You would see a man standing alone because his wife has been too ill to join him.

You would see a woman standing on one leg because she lost the other in a car accident

You would see a a recovering alcoholic standing next to his wife who stood by him.

You would see a breast cancer survivor.

You would see people battling depression

You would see parents with children in heaven

You would see parents with children who suffer too much on earth.

You would see me.

And do you know what we did?  It's the strangest thing ...

We stood up, and together sang a song

How can I keep from singing your praise?

No, really!  We sing of amazing love and grace from a powerful God.

Isn't that weird?

Seriously, forget the common-ness of that ritual.  Why on earth would a group of people, each bearing unique burdens from a sin-torn and trouble-filled world, why on earth would we gather and sing the praise of a God who ... well ... let's be honest ... He could fix it.  He could have stopped the car accident.  He could have saved the child.  He could have nudged that amino acid at just the right time and stopped the "mutation" in my daughter.

But He didn't.

And we stand and say, "How can I keep from singing your praise..."

I'm sure one would be tempted to suggest that, to participate in such a ritual, we let our mental faculties take a vacation for an hour or so every Sunday.  Let me assure you that we don't.  Yes, the pain in this world and the belief in a good, powerful God who has loving intentions toward me ... I'm not going to deny the cognitive dissonance set up by those two concepts ... and, if you're interested, I'd love a rigorous discussion regarding the theology and philosophy of my faith-based world view.

But that is NOT what struck me on Sunday.

What struck me on Sunday was the faith.  The crowd of witnesses I am blessed to stand with, some having as many reasons as Job to question God, but for some reason, we've decided to trust.  We've decided to believe.  We've decided to lean on God.

We've decided that, whether he removes the pain or not, he is God and he is good and he is worthy of our praise.

Faith.

I understand that it looks foolish.  I promise you, it's not.

But I'm not sure where I would be without the other people I have in my life who stand next to me, encouraging me by their mere presence to hold to that foolish-looking faith.

Dear friends, let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.  - Hebrews 10

I am so thankful and so encouraged by the witnesses I am blessed to stand next to in faith. 

From "Our Journey," Monday, February 25, 2013. Used by permission.