When Your Answers About Faith Bring More Questions Than Comfort

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.  Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us!  We’re going to drown!”  Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid?  You have so little faith!”  Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.  The disciples were amazed.  “Who is this man?” they asked.  “Even the winds and waves obey him!”  

Matthew 8:23-27

Among the disciples were fishermen like Peter, accustomed to storms, even the fierce ones.  They were familiar with violent storms which are not uncommon on the lake, as winds can rush in suddenly from the west or the east and generate waves over 10 feet high.[1]  If you fished the sea of Galilee, you learned not to stress over storms.  But this storm was more than enough to have the disciples wish they’d stayed ashore, or at least checked to see if their wills were up-to-date.  They thought they were on the brink of joining their buried ancestors. 

And there was their leader, Jesus, sleeping like a baby in the back of the boat.  What a time for a nap! 

Mark’s Gospel account showed how much this event overwhelmed him.  Normally Mark wrote just the facts…quick and to the point.  But of this Mark adds emphatic pathos, details of just how scared they were:

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.  The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”  Mark 4:38

From Matthew we get the sense of their faith – when they were at wits-end they went to the One they knew had answers.  From Mark, we get the sense of insecurity they had – did Jesus not care?  From both disciple’s accounts we see the answer…Jesus told the winds and 10-feet-high waves to HUSH!  And they did!  And Matthew records what that did to the disciples…Jesus’ answer brought more questions:  Who…and What…kind of man is this?

Perhaps you’ve been in that kind of situation.  You were in trouble, physically, emotionally, financially, or a relationship on the rocks.  You were drowning in some way, so you cried-out to God, and an answer showed up.  You were grateful for the rescue, but when the dust settled, all you could do was ruminate on the reasons why – why did this happen to you?  What – what was God thinking to put you through that?  When – when is life going to be normal?  How – how am I ever going to get to where I really want to be? 

It’s like the disciples experienced; Jesus had the answers, but they brought more questions than comfort.  They were uneasy enough to ask the question (what kind of man this is), but they did have that little spark of faith to row back to land, and put one foot in front of the other, and continue following Jesus. 

After the cross and resurrection, we find that faith grew into the power of God in their lives, which changed the course of history.  And being in the boat with the source of that power, on that night, with all nerves stretching their faith to the limit (and beyond), they knew it was real.

For You Today 

Today’s faith will be enough for today’s storms…as long as you stay in the boat with Jesus.  He’s a better weather-man than any you’ve seen on TV!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library. 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee, Copyright © 2020 by David P. Barrett. 

A Prayer from the Hourglass

 

Friday, November 13, 2020

Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!  Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.  You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”  For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.  You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.  They are like grass that springs up in the morning.  In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.  We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury.  You spread out our sins before you—our secret sins—and you see them all…. Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.  Psalm 90:1-8, 12

There is, contained in Moses’ prayer, one phrase which is the answer to every problem of humanity.  The phrase governs whether a prayer will be heard in Heaven and answered on earth.  It is the phrase that solves the riddle of who we are, and whether life has any meaning.  It can be uttered in the utmost sincerity or whispered as a lucky charm key word (albeit meaningless), or even in mockery (albeit quite dangerous)…but the phrase is as true as rain falls from the heavens, nonetheless. 

You are God

 Suspended in the passing of time, we can only dream of eternity; yet God has placed within us the understanding of mortality and how we are created beings, not Creator.  God has also placed within our understanding – each of us, admit it or not – that God is holy God, and we are not.  The chief problem of humanity is rejection of that truth; it forms the basis of either cooperating with God’s ways or, like Adam and Eve did, moving deeper into the forest of fig leaves to hide our nakedness.

There are all sorts of fig leaf activities to cover our nakedness of soul, and the nervousness of our psyche:

·       Intelligence – by assuming the knowledge will solve everything position, we bury our nakedness in study, science, and diplomas hung on the wall.  In that way we can point to what we “know” and be philosophically removed from that which escapes knowing. 

·       Insourcing – by counting on our “feelings” and intuition to feel better

·       Indulgence – by staying so busy with the readily-available dulling the senses tactics (parties, drugs, and whatever else appeals to our desires)

·       Insanity – burying our nakedness under a load of continual rituals (even the religious ones, political causes, or a cure for this or that disease) which lulls us into an existence of false hope that something will come along to make things okay. 

Have you ever felt just a little lost (or a lot) in all, or any, of that?

And then, the preacher brings up the final exam that’s coming…quickly, unexpectedly, and all that judgment stuff for getting it wrong. 

“Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief!  Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.”  Revelation 16:15

And you are more than aware you’re sitting in an hourglass, and the sand is running out.  You’re just hoping someone will turn the hourglass over to give you some more time to figure it all out.

Well, someONE has done better than that.  SomeONE has entered your hourglass of time and space to come alongside you and make it all better than okay.  He wants to make it okay between you and Him…for eternity!

For You Today

If you feel an uneasiness in your soul, deep within, the kind of questioning about the meaning of life, what’s at stake, and whether there is any hope at all…for you, or anyone else on this planet…there is a starting place for all the answers.  It is the prayer that begins like Moses prayed, Lord….You Are God!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image, Pixabay.com   W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Psalm 90 see:  Without Begining - Without Ending and  But Someday  

 

Overthinking Faith

 

Friday, June 12, 2020

Genesis 24:1-9

Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.  One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.  Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”  The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home? Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?”  “No!” Abraham responded.  “Be careful never to take my son there.  For the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants.  He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.  If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of mine.  But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.”  So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions.

For each of the last three years this text has jumped off the page each time I read it.  And then, I had no choice but to write what God was saying to my heart.  I went back and read each of those devotional pieces and found the common thread of Abraham living in the faith he proclaimed.  The writer of Hebrews explains:

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.  He went without knowing where he was going.  And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents.  And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.  Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.  Hebrews 11:8-10

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…the faith, this belief in One whom they could not see, and living in that reality was passed on to successive generations by….well, faith!

By entrusting finding a bride for Isaac to his servant, Abraham was staking the entire future of more than his family to this man; Abraham was putting the witness of God’s faithfulness on the line.  I believe the patriarch had finally learned, at that stage of his long life, to be comfortable with trusting God’s way more than trying to control everything to make it all come out right.  This is not exactly a doctrinal textbook definition of faith, but it sure says what it means to live it on the ground.

By comparison, Abraham’s servant may have been overthinking, rather than serving.  Perhaps he’d been hanging around Abraham too long, and had seen too many of his master’s flaws, lying to the Egyptians, and trying to give God’s promises a little extra insurance by having a backup heir in Ishmael.  The servant, like a cunning politician, wanted every possibility covered.  When he heard Abraham’s instructions, he asked, well, what if…and what if…and what if….  Abrahm’s oldest, most trusted servant was overthinking the issue of faith.  In patient, but no-nonsense faith, Abraham told the man…no what if’s, just do what I asked you…if God doesn’t do what He said, then you’re released from your promise. 

In hindsight, I believe Abraham had learned to trust that what he’d heard from God was to be believed, not overthought.  If God didn’t bring it all to pass, it was Abraham who had misunderstood God, and God would handle even that.

Abraham’s servant took the oath, and, later we find him wondering as he’s looking at Rebekah, is this the one?  The man had sworn an oath, and he was trying his best to fulfill his responsibility, but he just couldn’t help himself trying to make sure.  Abraham’s man may have been his oldest and most trusted servant, but he was also his Overthinker-in-Chief!

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, we’d much rather live like Abraham, trusting You, no matter what the circumstances look like, or what the prevailing culture prescribes we should do, or not do.  Help us to receive for this day Abraham’s kind of faith.

For You Today

One thing is certain about living the faith we proclaim – it ain’t easy!  But, when we do (finally) toss off all our tendency to control our circumstances, and truly let God have those circumstances, the relief and joy of trusting Him is a sure way to discover we don’t need anti-depressants or panic attack drugs to get through another day!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Genesis 24 see Finding Rebekah and Marrying Wisdom and Faith and The Promise  

Lost in Thoughts of Eternity

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Psalm 93:1-5

The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.  Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.  The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.  Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.  You yourself are from the everlasting past.  The floods have risen up, O Lord.  The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves.  But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore—the Lord above is mightier than these!  Your royal laws cannot be changed.  Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.

My children have no memory of me.  That is, they have no memory of me before they were born.  They only have what they have seen in pictures and been told by me, and others, of what I was like before they were born.  

They might be able to pick out their father, or name their uncle and his cousins entirely based on family resemblance, but it’s a guess, not a memory; they weren’t there in 1950.

My children’s children (and grandchildren) have no first-hand knowledge of what their parents were like before they were born.  And so on. 

The memory we all have of the time before our time exists, resting entirely on the faith we have in what we are told, and by whom it is who tells us.

In the same way, we can only imagine eternity.  And it somewhat hurts the head to do so.  If you’ve ever tried to imagine nothingness, as if nothing existed, such as Genesis suggests, you understand this head-hurting activity:

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.  Genesis 1:2a

Pondering eternity can produce a wide range of emotions among the vast possibilities; we can get overwhelmed with awe for the vastness of time and space. Depression is also possible, because of the prospect of an unanswerable line of questioning about our beginning; to think deeply and run into the same, frustrating answer, we’ll see, or maybe is a sure formula for a straight jacket. 

And those straight jackets come in many colors and sizes.  Of the many ones we put on, (perhaps as an intentional insulation against the cold, dark, reality of our questions being unanswerable) is the common agnostic approach, simply throwing hands up in the air, admitting:  well…no one can really know how it all began; you can’t prove God or creation, or something nobody was there to see…so why bother even thinking about it?  Some like to think that is an “intelligent” position of accepting your losses and moving on.

Nonetheless, the quest to know from whence we trod remains fundamental to humankind, because we desire to know purpose, the WHY of our existance.  To NOT at least ponder these is to live in a shallow pool of self-importantance.

Enter – the loveliness of faith.

Somewhere in the deepest crevices of our being, even deeper than DNA, and more pronounced than personality, there is singing a song of our origin, the music and message of our Creator’s love.  This song calls out to the individual from within.  It cries a thornbird’s gift as Fr. Alfred McBride wrote:

“According to legend, the thorn bird sings just once in its life. Leaving its nest, it searches for a bush with long, sharp thorns. Upon finding such a bush it impales itself on the biggest thorn. At that moment it begins to sing.
“The bird out-carols the lark and the nightingale and the world pauses to listen. God smiles with pleasure at the captivating melody. What is the message of this sacrificial music? Life's most satisfying moment can be purchased only at the price of great pain – so says the legend.[1]

Christ on the cross, was our thorn bird.  This was Father God’s precious gift that causes our souls to sing, All glory to the dying lamb…sweetest note in seraph song.[2]

For You Today

You have no memory of the creation, or Christ’s cross, or even your great-great grandfather; you DO have a song of faith waiting to be sung…an eternal song.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Psalm 93 see God Sovereign - Part 1

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[1] The Seven Last Words of Jesus by Fr. Alfred McBride (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1990, paper, 87 pages

[2] Hymn – The Great Physician, William Hunter (public domain) Hymnary.org

A Little More Light - Part 3

[i][ii]

Friday, March 22, 2019

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  2 Timothy 3:16

Although a “quadrilateral” has four parts, today’s Part 3 finishes this series. 

In thinking about Experience (the assurance of salvation) and Reason (God’s gift to us mortals of being self-aware and drawing intelligent, ethical, and moral conclusions), the remaining two are Tradition (of the church, or doctrine) and Scripture, God’s Word.  For me, these last two are so intertwined I find it impossible to separate them.  The reasoning here is that God’s Word (not exclusively the 66 books we call the Bible), but literally, God’s Words to humanity throughout the course of time are that from which the doctrines of the church (traditions, if you will) were born.  Everything the church does, from worship, benevolence, proclaiming God’s love, mercy, peace, and righteousness, to baptizing and discipling, are extensions of Holy Writ.  We do that to which Scripture calls and empowers believers.

Paul’s admonition to Timothy is not only defining, concerning Scripture, it is also the chief example of how doctrine/tradition and Scripture are hand-in-glove tools of God’s Spirit, the light and power of God’s will here on earth.  Scripture tells us what is wrong and right, and compels us to the right, instead of the wrong.  Such is the nature of the Scripture’s impact, driving church tradition, the doctrines that guide, inform and, by the power of God’s Spirit, transform human life into new life.  This is the essence of church tradition (not traditional acts, such as observing a festival, or hanging hats in the foyer), but direction…moving towards the light.

By nature, I have always had an ambivalent, tenuous relationship with God’s Word.  There is this love affair with my Creator within me which aspires to be obedient to God…a hungering-after His righteousness and thirsting for His will to be fully in control of Russell.  And in the opposing corner lurks that human nature inherited from Adam…always willing to have a break from my responsibility to respond to the Director of this symphony called life.  When that lurking Adam-nature wins out I become a wanderer more than a Pilgrim.

Scripture and the Tradition of God’s people, from the time of Job’s troubles until this very day, are the evidence I can see of God’s pull on my soul towards Him.  It draws me to a scary life…a life walking without sight, but rather in faith.

It is this life that requires more light in the soul than on the physical path.  That light comes best when Scripture, Reason, Experience, and Tradition move in concert within me, assuring, encouraging, directing, and correcting my ways:

·      Experience, or the assurance of salvation is what rekindles the courage inside me to put one foot in front of the other and keep-on. 

·      Reason is God’s gift that helps me mindfully-reject dark enemies in favor of Godly joys.  This is my weapon in the hand against straying into the temptations that abound. 

·      Tradition, the way our faith family has lived in the experience of salvation and carried the sword of reason, is the well-beaten path, blazed by that great cloud of witnesses, the God-following community. 

·      Scripture is like the shepherd of God’s supreme authority of a love letter to whosoever will join Him on the great adventure of marching to Zion, journeying-on to that place of still water which restores my soul.

For You Today

It’s a dark world out there…and God has provided all the tools you need to keep moving towards the light and sharing that light with others along your way. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©