Faith is messy. Profound, right?
There are tensions and paradoxes to faith. Things that I don't know what to think of or do with. Other people following the same God to figure out...
It's, well, messy.
Too often we expect faith to be a science (or math). If I put x,y,z into a beaker and stir then I should expect this result. If I follow these steps then I will have this outcome. Maybe this has worked in your life, but I can tell you it has not been the case for me. And quite honestly, I don't trust those who package faith this way.
Imagine if we approached marriage as a science? or friendships? If I do your laundry, compliment you, and maybe make your coffee then I can expect this from you. If we follow these steps our marriage will be perfect. No! So much gets figured out on the journey.
Someone once said faith is more like falling in love. At the time I heard this I was single and it made sense. It makes even more sense now that I am married. The thing called "love" my husband and I have for each other? I can describe and explain it yet never quite capture the essence of it in words. But it's real. I don't understand him sometimes. I don't know why he does the things he does, or quite understand fully why he loves me in return. But there is enough love and trust from what I do know and have seen to cover those things we don't understand about the other. This works for how I relate to God AND other believers...
When I was dating my husband, I didn't say, "Ok once I have you entirely figured out and understand you completely, then and only then I will marry you."
I would still be single.
Instead, I got to know him, asked questions, had so many conversations about so many diverse topics. I "fell in love" (which will be the subject of a whole other blog post someday- I choose to love my husband beyond that initial feeling...) with what I saw and chose to commit, knowing full well that I had only glimpsed a tiny bit of who he was. Everyday I learn something new about him, same with faith. Some things are hard and I wrestle with them. Some are awesome and make me love him more. Same with faith.
I don't have it all figured out. And the further I go on this journey the messier this thing called faith looks to me.
But there is enough love, trust, and hope to cover what I don't yet understand.
There are tensions and paradoxes to faith. Things that I don't know what to think of or do with. Other people following the same God to figure out...
It's, well, messy.
Too often we expect faith to be a science (or math). If I put x,y,z into a beaker and stir then I should expect this result. If I follow these steps then I will have this outcome. Maybe this has worked in your life, but I can tell you it has not been the case for me. And quite honestly, I don't trust those who package faith this way.
Imagine if we approached marriage as a science? or friendships? If I do your laundry, compliment you, and maybe make your coffee then I can expect this from you. If we follow these steps our marriage will be perfect. No! So much gets figured out on the journey.
Someone once said faith is more like falling in love. At the time I heard this I was single and it made sense. It makes even more sense now that I am married. The thing called "love" my husband and I have for each other? I can describe and explain it yet never quite capture the essence of it in words. But it's real. I don't understand him sometimes. I don't know why he does the things he does, or quite understand fully why he loves me in return. But there is enough love and trust from what I do know and have seen to cover those things we don't understand about the other. This works for how I relate to God AND other believers...
When I was dating my husband, I didn't say, "Ok once I have you entirely figured out and understand you completely, then and only then I will marry you."
I would still be single.
Instead, I got to know him, asked questions, had so many conversations about so many diverse topics. I "fell in love" (which will be the subject of a whole other blog post someday- I choose to love my husband beyond that initial feeling...) with what I saw and chose to commit, knowing full well that I had only glimpsed a tiny bit of who he was. Everyday I learn something new about him, same with faith. Some things are hard and I wrestle with them. Some are awesome and make me love him more. Same with faith.
I don't have it all figured out. And the further I go on this journey the messier this thing called faith looks to me.
But there is enough love, trust, and hope to cover what I don't yet understand.
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