Trusting in the Unseen

John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Becase you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Trusting in the Unseen
(by: Debra Klingsporn)

Sitting on my bookshelf is a book published several years ago called The Myth of Certainty. The title alone catches my eye and speaks to me with a ring of truth. How I long for a world of black and white, good and bad, yes and no; a world of clear-cut distinctions and effortless decisions because the good and bad can be easily identified. No blurring rationalizations. No complicating considerations.
But clear-cut distinctions and effortless choices aren't true to my experience in life. Between black and white are shades of gray. Between good and bad are confusing questions. Between yes and no is a strong maybe.
The fact of the matter is, no matter how black and white and absolute some defenders of the faith portray the gospel, I simply can't buy that line. My experience and the experience of people of faith throughout the centuries, is one of a God who meets us in the questions, who honors our seeking, and who created us to be intelligent beings. When it comes to faith, if we're looking for proof and certainty, we won't find it.
Living at the heart of faith is living with uncertainty, trusting in the unseen. Somewhere along the way, we have to leap the chasm between that which we know absolutely and that which calls us from within. Yet even in our uncertainty, we walk in the presence of the holy.
God is far more interested in our honesty than our piety. We have only to offer him a willing heart and truthful spirit and he'll take it from there, meeting us in the chasm as we make the leap.

Everyday I live life with uncertainty. Will I be able to do everything that I planned for the day? Will I be able to deliver everything with excellence? Will I still have a job at the end of the day? Will I go home happy? Everyday is full of questions. But in this life of uncertainty, I find comfort from a very certain God. Everyday, as I ask my questions, as I experience confusion and fear from uncertainty, I remember the promises given to me by God through His son Jesus Christ.

* "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong."
Acts 3:16
* "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." Joshua 1:5
* "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
* "...Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be open." Luke 11:9-10

These are just some of verses containing God's promises and assurances to us. And God doesn't just assure us that He is always with us, He encourages us to seek him, and to ask for what we desire. Will I continue to live life in uncertainty? Most likely. After all, certainty is present only if we are definite on how things will go and what will happen. Will I continue to live life in confusion and fear? By God's grace, No, because God is with me everyday.:)

Shark!!!

A friend of mine email me this joke. I find it funny, but then again, it also makes me think...why the shark?:)

There is this atheist swimming in the ocean. All of a sudden he sees a shark in the water, so he starts swimming furiously towards his boat.
As he looks back, he sees the shark turn and head towards him. He's scared to death, and as he sees the jaws of the great white beast open, revealing its horrific teeth, the atheist screams, "Oh God! Save me!"
In an instant, time is frozen and a bright light shines down from above. The man is motionless in the water when he hears the voice of God say, "You are an atheist. Why do you call upon me when you do not believe in me?"
Confused, and knowing he can't lie, the man replies, "Well, that's true I don't believe in you, but how about the shark? Can you make the shark believe in you?"
The Lord replies, "As you wish," and the light retracts back into the heavens. The man feels the water move once again.
As the atheist looks back, he can see the jaws of the shark start to close down on him, when all of sudden the shark stops and pulls back.
Shocked, the man watches as the huge beast closes its eyes, bows its head and says, "Thank you Lord for this food which I am about to receive..."

Isn't it amazing how God could have change the mind of the man but chose not to? Have you ever thought how God could have change everybody's mind and have all of us believe in Him, but chose not to? He definitely is more than powerful enough to do it, after all, he created the whole universe simply by saying it, "And God said,'Let there be light,' and there was light." (Genesis 1:3). It is possible for God to give us the faith and trust in Him so that we won't go against Him, but He didn't do it. If you're going to think about it, it's the easiest thing to do. With just saying it, God can make us all believe in Him, whether we like it or not. However, God didn't do it. He doesn't work that way, and He doesn't love that way.

One of the greatest gift that God has given us, man, His greatest creation made in His image, is free will. And you can see from the old testament all the way to the new testament that God never force people to believe something that they don't want to believe. It doesn't mean that the people are right, more often than not, they're wrong and therefore suffer in the end. But God loves us so much that He doesn't want to make us into a robot who just follow and obey everything that He says. Would you like to live like a robot? I sure don't. But God still want us to be with Him in heaven, so what He did was to send His only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. The only thing that He asks us is to believe. "For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Just believe.:)