Chapter Three: Episode 16
Facing Chaos and Darkness -- with Faith
Mature Faith
Waiting for answers demands what we can characterize as “mature faith.” What does that mean?
· First, it is a faith that is prepared through study, service, and prayer. It is prepared to face and embrace the unknown. “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” (Hebrews 11)
· Second, it is a faith that can endure seasons of uncertainty. We can “hold on” because we hold to a God we experience as good, one who works for our protection and provision. “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29)
· Third, it is a faith that opens our mind and heart to answers from “beyond.” Like the Kims on that first, frightening night, this faith is actively scanning. It actively watches for the Lord to open doors, especially unexpected ones. “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’” (First Corinthians 2)
Your Rational Decision about Revelation
Can you wait patiently for revelation, for your crucial Aha moments without all this God stuff?
Yes, you can. . .
But religion teaches its followers to wait with endurance, expectation, even confidence. Through its stories and teachings, it repeatedly celebrates active and engaged waiting.
As one nineteenth-century preacher wrote, “This word, ‘wait,’ rightly describes almost the whole of Christian life, for waiting is active as well as passive, energetic as well as patient, and to wait upon the Lord necessitates . . . holy courage.”[1]
That experience of waiting isn’t just a bad patch to get through and survive. It’s a season of deep, sustaining love, holding on to God in the wilderness.
Then comes revelation.
That leads us to our fourth trail – Resilience.
On Easter, March 31, I’ll pause the Eight Trails story to bring you a reflection, “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” This reflection springs from my mission to speak to you about the symbolic issues of belief. Confusion about religious symbols blocks many thoughtful people from faith and its power for life. It’s my hope that this Easter reflection on Resurrection may spur your own “Aha!” moment.
Eight Trails resumes April 7, the Fourth Trail of Resilience (Episode 17).
To Eight Trails readers: Does this post suggest a moment you’ve experienced and, perhaps, a photo you took? Share your reflections and photos with me by clicking “reply” to this emailed post. I would be delighted to include them in new posts — of course, crediting you!
[1] Charles Spurgeon, “Brave Waiting,” preached August 26, 1877 in London (https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/brave-waiting/#flipbook/