Hope. Doubt. Struggle. Comfort. What does it all mean. There is this feeling of comfort when we have faith. There is such joy in our heart as we know we are not in life alone, merely a pawns. As we are challenged in our life and in our faith in new and even devastating ways, this sense of invulnerability wanes. As we see and experience uncertainty in what tomorrow brings, the joy of our experience with Jesus and His love and grace can even find itself placed on hold or forgotten. This confusion and doubt is not only about character, it is about our soul, our faith, our identity and the new challenges that effect and alter who we are and what we are about. Hope seems to be but a distant point on the horizon. What do we make of it all?
Hear the VERY Good News, this struggle
from within and about regarding our faith and feeling of hopelessness, the
seeking of something other than doubt and confusion, this battle of your
soul, it is, in fact, faith and identity as one of God's children. In order
to seek something, you have to in fact know about it or recognize the void
and need. Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life and as an
element of who you are is present in this time of challenge. The link to the
Hebrews passage shares in great details what this is about, what this need
for hope and faith is. Part of the doubt and concern about what is going on
in the world is about how incompatible acts of hate and terror are to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and who we are as God's People. As we lose those that
are close to us, it pains us to realize they will not share that smile with
us again, create a laugh from deep within our belly or even cry in each
others arms. This loss hurts. The losses hurt so much more when the loss is
due in part to negligence or hate. The pain did not have to happen.
In the days to come, as we encounter the struggles
with our faith and even our lives, we can remember we are seekers. We seek
Christ's kingdom, a place where we love and care for another, a place where
we never feel distance between us and God. This place where doubt is but a
joke and hope is realized. For now, we are to seek and we are to share. Seek
God's will and order, looking for His grace and recognizing His presence.
For now we are to share that which we find with others, that, we might let
just one more know of God. One more. Prayer: Lord, I struggle with hope and doubt. I struggle as I
go to class, as I go to work. I cringe as I hear of the newest developments
in this war. But there seems to be another war, a war within. Bring to me
the peace and the assurance I need. Let me share all that I find and make
Your presence know to another. Help us to find peace and healing. End this
war and bring about Your Kingdom on Earth. Thank You for all that You have
done in my life and all You will continue to do, for I ask this through
Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.