“Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted and relied on Me.” (John 20:29 AMPC)
The storm raged on. I huddled in the basement watching the local weather report. Images of hail, wind, rain, uprooted trees, and thousands of homes without power flickered across the screen. The meteorologists warned everyone to stay in their safe place. I wanted to see if we had any roof or tree damage but decided to heed their warnings and stay away from the windows. I was glad the satellite dish still worked--but soon the storm cut that off. At least we still had electricity. I got online and watched the live radar. That lasted about half an hour until the power went off too. Now I was completely in the dark. I had no idea what was going on outside. I realized that whatever little courage I had was based on seeing and knowing what was happening and then trying to figure out how I could manage it. I started praying, because I couldn’t think of anything else to do.
Like most people, I tend to rely on what I can see, touch, measure, and control. God is unseeable, immeasurable, intangible, and unmanageable; trusting in Him feels precarious and foolish. Even though I know deep down that my circumstances can change any moment and my self-sufficiency is limited, I still cling to my illusions--until even those are stripped away from me. I wait until all my other options are exhausted before I seek God’s help.
Uncertain times are the training ground for trust. When all that is visible and tangible is taken away, when life becomes unmanageable--we learn to lean on the Lord and not on our own insights and understanding. God alone becomes our source of courage and confidence. Faith calls us to have assurance in the unseen, to rely on the unknowable, to adhere to that which remains unsubstantiated.
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