Doubt - Unconference

Kevin,

I was so pumped you came up with this topic. Doubt has been one of the key presences in my spiritual life. I hate the feeling of doubt, but I have come to love its fruit.

IMO, I think most of the intellectual stuff that passes for doubt is the least important. The hard doubt is what you feel when you’re laying in bed at night and can’t sleep. It’s the anxiety of whether God is really good, does he really love me? How come I got cancer? Why did he break up with me?

You know what I mean? It’s like the doubt that comes from pain, disappointment, emptiness, sadness. It’s the hard stuff of faith that most of Christianity doesn’t have the courage to approach honestly with an open heart.

But I deeply believe that doubt is one of the most important pathways to God. And I think this is why Jesus didn’t rebuke Thomas; he simply said, “Put your hand in my side.” Because Jesus knew Thomas’ doubt wasn’t intellectual, it was emotional. Thomas didn’t want to have to hope in a God that would/might disappoint him. He didn’t want to believe in a God that would call ppl to believe in Him and then go and die on them. He didn’t want the pain of a resurrected hope, only to have it crushed again by grief and disappointment. And I think Jesus was just saying, It’s ok to doubt me.

Anyway, this is an important topic. Whether it gets up into messaging from the front or not, disciples need to know that it’s not only OK to doubt, it’s healthy and it can lead to growth in Christ.

I believe in God because every once in a while, I hear a voice that says, “You’re my favorite.”

The way I understand it, doubt should only be for a season… times of doubt happen in our life… but persistent doubt in the basics of the Christian faith is the opposite of faith… without faith it is impossible to please God. Trusting God is an expression of love to him. I love it when my kids trust me. Sometimes my children will ask where are we going, what are we going to do and I won’t give them an answer… I just say you will see… God does that to us sometimes.

I love that the Journey as a whole and many inviduals do not write off people with doubt. It’s hard enough to have doubts about God and faith without Christians and the church attacking you. it’s hard to move on from those doubts if people aren’t around to listen and love you in the midst of it. *the difference between asking questions for the sake of asking then vs asking them to search for the truth!

I was blessed to have some incredible people around me in college when i transitioned from my parent’s faith to making it my own faith. A lot of hours of discussion in the back room of the church, pastor’s homes or coffee houses… I have seen so many abandon their faith all together when quetions threaten a shaky (or even strong) foundation. But those people including my college pastor encouraged me to hang tight with God even in my darkest of times. And there was always a place I could come even when I wanted to drop it all. Their love and support reminded me that God was still seeking me even when I had a hard time even believing he existed. I have a passion for being a person who can listen to others in their doubts and dialouge with them—encouraging them to seek out Jesus’ love and truth. I know there are others in the Journey who also feel this way and it was encouraging to see others I wasn’t aware of in the unconference today.

I’m not sure how it would look yet but being able to have connections with those who are doubting and those who have experienced doubts would be such a support. I think I would have given up on church all together after my first year in college without my peers and church staff as support. I still have questions (i’m a recovering cynic) but my questions have led to awe of a God who is so much bigger than man’s explanations in religion and science—His love far exceeding our comprehension. The more I seek God the more aware of how little I know and how much more amazing the grace and mercy he has bestowed upon myself and humanity.

Exploring can be fun but eventually the explorers discover something. Thomas doubted for a short time but he quickly became a hard-core believer willing to risk it all.

Jim-
I was thinking along the same lines.
Thomas is my favorite disciple. He had honest doubts and questions, and Jesus met him where he was. But once those questions were answered, his unbelief evaporated.
Honest doubt should “lead” somewhere eventually; either to embracing what was in doubt, or rejecting it.

I’m glad we brought up Thomas. But Thomas had his doubt settled in person and in black and white. He put his hands into Christ’s wounds. I don’t have the opportunity to do that while on this planet (at least I’m not expecting to). I have a hard time viewing the disciples (darn them!) as ‘believers’ as they witnessed so much first-hand.

Is it reasonable to expect that I, living 2000 years later, without the benefit of any such personal experience, should have the same faith as them, or that their ‘faith’ would bear almost any relationship to mine? I look at the stories of the bible and think, ‘The disciples had it easy!’. In many ways, referencing Thomas only serves to make me feel that much more removed from the bible.

I’ve had doubts for over 20 years about aspects of the Christian faith. I have not embraced or rejected those aspects, because I have not been offered any hard evidence in either direction. Jim’s comment about explorers is well taken, but explorers usually discover what they expect to find. There was a time in my life where I really expected to ‘hear’ God speaking to me, but that never happened. Were I a more cynical person, I might have taken that to mean there was no God. But I look at the testimonies of those who claim to have had personal God experiences, as well as people like Mother Teresa, who had a single experience and then struggled with the lack of further spiritual connection for the rest of her life.

I agree that once questions are answered, unbelief should evaporate. But I have a lot of questions that have never been satisfactorily answered. I long for the ability to ask God a question and have it unequivocally answered. I would ask ‘Lord, what would you have me do?’ or even just ‘Am I doing what you want me to do?’. If God told me that my purpose was to spend the rest of my life struggling for answers, and I wouldn’t hear from him again until I died, that would be more than enough.

My faith in God is blind faith - it’s a hunch and a suspicion, but nothing more. I have no proof, and I assume that if there is a God, that’s the way he wants it. He obviously doesn’t want his existence easily proven.

All this comes around to pointing out that someone telling me (or someone like me) that my doubt is in any way negative or unhealthy is only going to make me feel that I’m not understood by that person. If that person is representing a church, then that church is (knowingly or not) pushing me away.

For me, unbelief is a sin and a great battle in my life. I believe unbelief is actually the root cause for sin (“did God really say that?” said the serpent in the garden of eden). Jesus said those who believe and did not see him would be blessed in even greater measure than those who did see him. Unbelief doesn’t evaporate. It can and does creep back in from time to time. We have to stamp it out with simple child-like faith.

I like to ask why, to know the reasoning and proof behind things, actions, ect. I work in a scientific field that often times can answer certain kinds of questions. But science can’t always offer answers about God, theology, human relationships. I don’t think my nature is to stop asking those questions and sometimes they lead to doubt. I am definitly stronger and more developed in my faith than before I started asking the questions, stronger than 10 years ago, 5 years ago or even a year ago. And while i do think that doubt can lead to bad places, it has led me to seek out anwers. I’m willing to live with the doubt if it brings me to a closer realationship with God. I just can’t imagine my life without some of those doubts. If I’m wrong, I thank God he can still use that weakness in spite of those doubts.

i’m so excited reading the notes of this discussion & everyone’s replies. i think doing a series of discussions on doubt would be very powerful. it’s one of those issues that i see ALL THE TIME since working on church staff, but people rarely are inclined to admit it openly to others (myself included).

doubt & unbelief are a part of every honest christian’s walk, i’m sure of it. discussing doubt in an open forum will not only encourage people (“i’m not the only one who feels this way”) but will also take down the arrogant front that people often see christians as having (as if we have it all together). plus, what if we could find better answers as a community than on our own?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders (of Israel) obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

An example of an area of doubt I struggle with is praying for the sick. I have seen many people miraculously healed but I have seen others that were not… that is hard. Also, I know in my head that I can raise the dead but I am honestly not sure what I would do if I came across someone splattered on the road from a car wreck.

I used to have doubt as well. What allowed me to overcome it was hearing the WORD. Once you read the Bible carefully you begin to realize that it is not the product of men but is of God.

The great (seeming) injustice is that people like Dennis & Jim frequently describe how scripture (the WORD) helps them overcome doubt. But for many people, it does not. In fact, being told that scripture is the answer to doubt has the potential to push people away if they read scripture expecting a transformation that doesn’t materialize.

This is, I think, one of the key issues facing the church. The difference in perspective is often too severe. Just as the doubters/non-christians can’t appreciate ‘the peace that passes understanding’, many of the ‘saved’ simply can not appreciate what it’s like to want the God connection, read the bible, go to church and not get it.

It’s too easy to assume that all one has to do is read the bible and - pop! - the Holy Spirit descends upon someone and they become a Christian. Looking around the world should show us that, while it may be that simple for some, it’s not for many (arguably, the majority).

I was taught to believe in God. I grew up Catholic and now I am exploring something new. Though I do not “qualify” as a devout Christian, I have always spoken to God. It has been more than praying and asking for help. He is my best friend. I talk to Him everyday all day. Doubt never existed in me when I was a little girl. It was only when I learned the history of religions that I began to doubt. It was when I realized that my gay friends had no place in my church that I first asked Him, “why would you cast anyone aside?” It was the first time that I questioned Him. Now I am aware of all the suffering around me and I do wonder. I doubt. Why am I so BLESSED when there are so many of my brothers and sisters are going through unimaginable suffering? I am thankful for His grace. I am thankful for Him every minute of my life, but I do wonder. I doubt.

The Bible is a valuable anchor but what really keeps me going is remembering what I have seen God do in my life and in others around me. I personally really don’t care much about intellectual stuff… I want to feel and have felt and experienced God’s power. I can recall the instant that I got saved. I can recall the darkness I felt in the years prior. Since that time, I remember the signs and wonders, the answered prayers, times spent partying with God with others, fellowship with other believers, the healings, financial provision, the many blessings on our family, the mission trip to the poorest of Mexico City, etc..

But again, how does that help the person who doesn’t see those things? When you say you feel God’s power…what does that say to the person who doesn’t feel it?

1. That they aren’t doing it right?
2. That they aren’t trying hard enough?
3. That they are broken?
4. That they aren’t meant to have the same kind of relationship with God as you?
5. That God doesn’t work that way (and you’re imagining it)?
6. That God doesn’t exist (and you’re imagining it)?

People who are honestly seeking but not feeling it may come to any of the above conclusions. If we don’t set their expectations realistically, we leave them to pick from the above list on their own.

Hearing what God did in others builds faith. I love to read and hear about that kind of stuff. Testimonies are powerful. I can’t lie or keep quiet about my experiences just to make someone else feel better. I remember hearing about missionaries in Indonesia walking across a flooded river in the 1960’s among many other miracles. I got the book and read about it and it started a persuit for the power of God. These days miracles are happening so fast all over the world it is hard to keep up with the news. In Silicon Valley, the intellect is god. I think that can be a real barrier to the child like faith that Jesus said is required to enter the kingdom… not an impossible barrier but difficult, so I can understand the battle.

This is a BIG topic. Maybe we should have a discussion after the Sunday meeting. I’m willing to spend the time to discuss this.

There is no one answer. God gave the Word, but it did not come alive till He sent Jesus into our relationships. I would be willing to see where our different starting points are and together…go from there. Doubt doesn’t determine whither you are a christian or not. Even sin doesn’t determine whither you are a christian or not. No one will be perfect until we are in heaven.

I also would like to get together and have a discussion on this Sunday.

I do see how the intellect can get in the way of faith. and while I certainly have emtions, I don’t usually connect to God as well on an emotional level but more on the intellectual level. So those intellecutal questions are important to me. I have doubt in them and it goes up and down but I also doubt God a lot more when I ignore those questions. Not everyone is like that but I think there are a lot. i know that I can’t rely on the answers solely—at some point it’s a faith thing.

And it’s hard for me when people so sure of their own faith and a either/or thing are so sure that my own doubts are wrong. I’m not so sure that a human has the capability of being so “sure” in faith. All in all, I think it comes down to less doubting God and more doubting humans. It comes down to that i often don’t trust what humans have to say about God, faith, the Bible—-the more sure and unwilling people are to admit that not all the answers are in the Word the more skeptical I am and less likely to trust them. Sometimes I think it is a lot about personality as well but coming to an understanding of someone else’s faith in graceful and genuine way helps me in my faith. Someone steps out and says I’m wrong for my questions and I’m bound to put up a wall to them whether that’s right or wrong.

I am envious (to a point) of people who have child-like faith. But seeing all the damage done in the name of God and religion makes it impossible for me not to approach faith critically, especially when someone is representing an aspect of faith as particularly crucial or solely correct (alongside all the other people representing a contrasting aspect of faith as likewise crucial or solely correct).

One thing that gives me a little bit of solace is recognizing that God obviously didn’t want faith to be easy. An omnipotent God is certainly capable of showing up on my doorstep, performing afew quick miracles, and then saying, “OK. So here’s what I want you to do…”.

I get some small comfort from the idea that since God doesn’t work that way, he must have wanted this process to be hard.

Lots of folks have misrepresented Christ through the ages… I am sure I have done my part too… but I try not to look at that, but instead look at him… Jesus. “Test everything but hold on to the good” Faith also involves spiritual warfare… it is a battle against our own flesh and demonic forces swirling around us… it is hard but it (or He rather) is worth it.

I believe you’ve offered a solution to your own ‘problem’. It’s all in the expectation. I had been a Christian for about twenty years before I took the advice of Don Ramsey…to read the bible with the expectation of God revealing Himself to me, personally. I had no previous experience of this but I had to act as though this were true. A step of faith…backed with a commitment. See, God knows our hearts. It did not come easy…at first. I commited to put God first, literally, by not stepping foot out of my bed until I had read a portion of scripture, expecting to hear from Him or something. I had also been advised in a book I had read, to journal three pages about anything that came to me. This was not something that came easily for me AT ALL! It really was work…at first. I stuck with it and I can say, in time, I have experienced God through reading His word in awesome, incredible, intimate ways. I know God honored my commitment because I made time with Him my absolute priority. Not dutiful scripture reading but relational time with Him…the necessary part of any good relationship. I hope this encourages you to try this. The time commitment that seems impossible…at first, has become for me the most valued part of my day. And when I look back at those first awkward journal entries, I just have to laugh and thank God for His patience with me!

Oh, when I started I did have that expectation. The lack of such a revelation is what resulted in me dropping away from faith for a long time. It took a lot of mental wrangling to convince myself that there could still be something to faith despite not getting the ‘lightning bolt’ that I was looking for.

But let’s assume for a minute that I just didn’t have that expectation long enough, or I just wasn’t persistent enough. Does our loving God deliberately choose not to reveal himself to people honestly searching for him because they don’t look long enough (measured in years)? Is he willing to let people never know him because they give up on the game of theological ‘hide and seek’ too soon, despite the fact that they have no way of knowing whether or not there’s really a God out there to find?

If yes, then the obvious ‘seeker’ response is that God is something of a jerk. Like eternal salvation boils down to whether you could ultimately figure out the ‘brain teaser’ of the exact process you need to follow to ‘connect’ with God.

Since I don’t like that particular conclusion, I choose to assume that it just isn’t that simple. I think that while it might appear that simple to those who feel that they have the ‘God Connection’ going strong, it is just different for many people. To repeat what I said above, what does your story say to the person who doesn’t have the same connection:

1. That they aren’t doing it right?
2. That they aren’t trying hard enough?
3. That they are broken?
4. That they aren’t meant to have the same kind of relationship with God as you?
5. That God doesn’t work that way (and you’re imagining it)?
6. That God doesn’t exist (and you’re imagining it)?

Are you saying that everyone out there who wants a similar relationship with God, but isn’t feeling it basically falls into camp 1 or 2?

I’m not trying to be combative - I honestly want to know.

Do you agree that life is a series of choices? Opportunities come… and go. If you’re walking on the beach one day and find an incredible shell and don’t pick it up, chances are it will not be there the next day or even in the next hour. Is that fair? Is that right? It is just the truth. If you could have picked it up but chose not to, is that God’s fault? The statistics are that if someone doesn’t ‘come to faith’ by the time they are out of high school the probability of them embracing what our Lord died for, goes way down. What does this mean? Either we accept what God has to offer when we actually have ‘child-like faith’, or God woo’s us into relationship with Him through the experiences of life. Three times I was presented ‘the Gospel’, three times I said ‘no’. The forth time I had read John and my heart had been softened by the Holy Spirit (I didn’t know that then) and I received Him into my life. That was when I was 18. Then the dormancy of 20 years or so of going through the motions of Christianity. Then this next chapter, that I wouldn’t trade for anything, began. I’ve been trying to think if there was anything else that triggered this awakening, that I had anything to do with….I know! I realized the idols in my life were keeping me from God’s best. I had to be willing to give up my ‘idea’ of what God had for me and let it go. When I did that, when I identified that, it was like new life was breathed into me. Perhaps waiting for a ‘lightening bolt’ experience has gotten in the way. I don’t know your full story…all I can say is to ask God to reveal if there is anything at all standing in the way of your knowing Him fully, but you have to really want to know. I will pray for you, if you identify something it can hurt like hell to let whatever it is go.

If I had a wonderful gift (the greatest possible gift) to give to my child, I wouldn’t leave it on a beach where she might find it, and if she missed it it would likely be gone an hour later. And when it comes to a gift from God, I most certainly expect it to be fair and right. If God is love and forgiveness, I (literally) expect him to be more than fair.

But regardless, we’re not talking about someone choosing not to pick up something right in front of them. That implies that it’s easy. We’re talking about how someone faced with few if any absolute certainties in life, born into any number of variations of any number of religions, with different backgrounds and different experiences, is supposed to figure out faith.

I am happy for you, as I am any time I hear that someone has made a spiritual connection. And while I appreciate your prayers for me personally, I’m more concerned with how we are supposed to approach non-christians.

You didn’t really answer my question above. Are you saying that everyone out there who wants a similar relationship with God, but isn’t feeling it either isn’t doing it right or isn’t trying hard enough?

I see similarities between the questions of doubt and “not feeling it,” and a quite different context: holy rolling revival. Our church in Illinois experienced an unusual season where, for nearly a year, we looked like a Pentecostal TV show. To everyone’s surprise, people started flopping about like fish!

In this context, there seemed to be three kinds of people:
- those who experienced ecstatic feelings (with or without physical symptoms)
- those who had a physical experience, but didn’t feel a thing
- those who experienced nothing

Group 1 was fine; they got the full experience (such as a sense of being wrapped in love, prophetic visions, etc.).
Group 2 was the people who, for example, would fall to the ground (no, they weren’t pushed) and lie on the ground unable to move, wondering, “Uh, this is odd, but so what.”
Group 3 was people who watched everyone else, wondering, “Is there something wrong with me?”

We never did figure out why people had such different experiences. It took a while for the Group 1 people to stop trying to “fix” Group 3. Eventually, the Group 3 people could be supportive of the experiences the others were having without feeling completely left out.

Looking back, I think each group needed the others. Maybe that’s why we are the “body of Christ,” comprised of different parts but fitting together. Our differing experiences forced us to accept “The Other”, and to see this time of renewal not as a personal thing but as a communal thing, and to be OK with differences.

Maybe that was the whole point.

I don’t think it was ‘fair’ or ‘right’ for Jesus to die for my sins…but because it was God’s way, it was right.

As far as being easy, it is simple, not necessarily easy. Example: when the rich guy asked Jesus what he had to do.

I like to remember the oxygen mask thing…secure your own before trying to help someone else.

This morning I read a quote from Oswald Chambers, His Utmost for His Highest,

The Spirit of God witnesses to the Redemption of Our Lord, He does not witness to anything else; He cannot witness to our reason. The simplicity that comes from our natural common-sense decisions is apt to be mistaken for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason. If we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give witness.

Forgive me if you felt like I was trying to ‘fix’ you, that was not my intent. I am compelled to share my experience like the healed cripple dancing and shouting, unable to contain himself.

Be blessed

I wasn’t offended - no need to ask forgiveness. I just think you’re a step ahead of where I’m pointing. The story of the rich man asking Jesus what to do is a great example. Yes, what Jesus asked him was simple (yet hard to do). But I don’t get to ask Jesus what to do. And my agnostic friend has no more reason to believe the bible gives the right answers than the Torah, or the Koran, or the self-help section at Barnes & Noble.

During a Sunday discussion this week, it occurred to me why I always struggle to find bible stories as particularly relevant: Most bible stories (pretty much all the most quoted ones) involve people undergoing an extraordinary God connection. God appears, speaks, or directly influences people and or events. Jesus performs countless miracles, and walks among the disciples casting out demons and performing miracles. Living in the world today, I neither experience nor see events like the ones in the bible (if I look really hard and tilt my head I can draw parallels, but there is a huge difference).

I do not think what God and/or Jesus asked people to do was necessarily easy. But it was clear. I have prayed more times than I can remember for clear direction from God. I have prayed quietly, and I have screamed at the top of my lungs for God to ‘Bring it on!’ I have asked God to turn my world upside down if needed, but told Him that I want that relationship with Him. I didn’t start praying this way lightly. It was after a great deal of thought and careful consideration, and very mindful of the possibility that I might not like the way God went about answering my prayer.

To date, I am still waiting. The answers seem no more clear than before, and very rarely does a committed Christian offer anything that’s very helpful.

People who consider themselves Christians and believe 100% in the bible and what it says have a (relatively) clear set of directions. But what about the rest of (read: majority of) the world? This is the problem I’m trying to highlight.

The way to connect with God may be clear to you, but your faith had to come first to get you there. How does someone who doesn’t share that faith get to that same place? Why should they take your word over the Jew, Muslim or Wiccan who likewise claims a spiritual connection?

It is interesting that Muslims are coming to Christ is large numbers around the world… at great cost. A friend of mine was ministering to people in a garbage dump in Indonesia… he prayed for someone to be healed… the person was healed completely and the whole village accepted Christ… he refers to them as muslim believers in the messiah… not non-muslims since Islam is mostly a culture. I love the stories I heard about Jesus appearing to folks all over Saudi Arabia. Jesus will always find a way to get the job done.

Hey everyone,
I need your help… because of this discussion at the unconference we will dedicate one of the JGA (Journey Growth Academy) classes to dealing with Doubt. I (Jeff) will be the facilitator…check it out:
http://www.talkinchurch.com/node/276

but I need your help:
What books / resources / website are most helpful to you?
If you were designing the class - what would be the best format?
After reading this sting of posts… where should we start?

i think to support those that are doubting christianity the most important thing is discussion- and real discussioning, not just telling non-christians “the truth” and expecting that they will just accept it. i think opening a place for discussion, where anyone is welcome is important.

-rebecca jean

I was also going to recommend “The Case for Faith”. “The Case for Christ” is also good…they are both available in a student edition which would be more ‘do-able’ for JGA. I would suggest having those who have ‘been there’ to be there as well, to share their experiences… would the class be for those who have… or have had faith, and are doubting? Or those who are doubting everything? If the emphasis is on those who are doubting everything, then for sure you should invite someone who did not grow up ‘in the church’ to be there to help facilitate.

I want to tell Macgyver that he has more faith than he realizes. Your realization that God has set things up in such a way that it is not easy or obvious is exactly what scripture teaches.

That actually is a real faith statement. Your thoughts regarding this are confirmed by scripture: “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)…”he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6) There are a lot of other verses like this, and what they all have in common is the description of the seeking of God as being “with all your heart and soul” or “diligent”. That does not sound like an easy or obvious process. But it is process that is worth more than any other effort as it leads to the ultimate. So keep with it my friend…

Even the apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, who saw the resurrected Jesus, etc., etc., said this “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Cor 13). “Seeing through a glass darkly” does not sound like everything is supposed to be crystal clear and any Christian that says it is must be more knowledgable that Paul I guess. But many things have been revealed, including what Paul revealed that was shown to him by Jesus Christ. “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:12)

This is a huge subject…just let me say that when Jesus encountered a man (in Mark 9:) that told Jesus “But IF you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

23” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Jesus proceeded to perform the miracle. This man was doubting…Jesus even questioned him about his lack of faith, saying “what do you mean “IF you can”? This man was honest about his stuggle with unbelief, yet because he wanted to believe Jesus went ahead performed the miracle of healing his son. Dallas Willard, the famous Christian Professor at USC says that it is the “willingness to believe” that is key and God looks with favor on anyone who sincerely wants to believe.

a good friend of mine is starting a church down in Austin. anyway on his blog he has a quote that immediately made me think of this discussion… here it is:

“I’ve been living in Hebrews 11 in the last three weeks and have been blessed by all the examples of authentic faith. It’s as if God has been branding my brain with the words, by faith. Yesterday I was meditating on verse 13: all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Everything in me wants by faith to result in great outcomes. What I am learning is that God is just looking for faith—period! It’s not even faith that things will turn out the amazing way I want them to be (though humanly that’s what I want for the launch of Living Stones Church-Based School of Leadership). It’s faith that according to verse 11 is locked into the promises of the faithful One. I don’t know if I’m making sense, but to me this is profound and countercultural. Let’s keep placing our faith in the Faithful One! Our eyes need to be on our ever faithful God. The outcomes are his. The thing he most desires is quiet confidence in him, no matter what.”
—Rowland Forman from COUNTER - INTUITIVE