Something to aim for

The concept of faith is interesting.  We sometimes speak of faith and having faith as though it’s a commodity.  For some, the faith is there when things are going the way they want.  However, our faith is truly tested when we’re not always getting “our way.”

King Ahaz faced very real threats to himself and his rule.  Yet, Isaiah told him to remain tranquil, that this, too, shall pass. “Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm!” (Isaiah 7:1-9).  The message was not “don’t worry, tomorrow everything will be fine.”  It was a message of testing faith, when many years have passed, the situation will not be as it is now.  True faith requires believing without immediately seeing the results we want.  Psalm 48 reminds us over and again that “God upholds his city forever.” Again, it’s imperative to believe regardless of what is happening.

Jesus calls us to task for not changing behavior in light of seeing great deeds (Matthew 11:20-24).  The old adage that “seeing is believing” apparently didn’t hold true for Chorazin and Bethsaida.  They weren’t even asked to have “blind faith”; they experienced the living word and the wondrous possibilities and yet, didn’t believe or change their ways.  We have opportunities everyday to repent and change our lives.  Every day is a new chance to embrace the world through God’s eyes and accept the love of Jesus and share it as all we do.  But, too often, we acknowledge the wonders but don’t change ourselves!  For all the love and care that Jesus shows us, we won’t experience true peace and serenity eternally without change in us.  We’re challenged to repent and to demonstrate faith in all we do.

In some ways, this idea of faith is like the love we share here in this world.  It’s easy to love our children and spouse when all is well.  When we speak and the children listen and obey, how easy it is for us to love them.  The challenge comes when all is not well!  Do we maintain that unconditional love regardless of the behaviors?  Do we separate our concern for the rudeness or other bad behavior from the love that we continue to have for that person?  That is faith.  Faith is the belief in what you don’t see and continuing to believe even when things are falling apart around you.  It’s trusting when adverse events occur shaking our very beings (Hebrews 11:1-40).  Trust and faith are inextricably connected.  As parents and grandparents we trust our children and grandchildren to do the right things even when we’re not there.  However, if our trust of them only lasts while they are in our sight, we fall short of a real trusting attitude.  Under our watchful eye, of course, we can expect appropriate behavior.  We trust, we believe, we have faith, when we don’t know the outcome but accept and embrace that it will be the right outcome.

I am reminded of a time when Lily was about 3 years old.   Lily had been playing with an electronic alarm clock that we had on an end table next to the sofa in our family room, and somehow set it off.  Marilyn told her quite sternly that she wasn’t to touch the alarm clock again.  A little while later, Marilyn went shopping and I was left alone with Lily, so evidently, she thought it would be her chance to play with the clock again.  Since I had just come home from work, I didn’t know about Marilyn’s admonition to Lily at this point, and I thought it was “cute” that she was reading the numbers and telling me about the clock.  Just then, Marilyn came in the door, and Lily immediately dropped the clock on the floor, then smiled at Marilyn as if to say, “Who, me?”

A little later, I saw her inching close to the clock again, and just as she was about to touch it, I gently reminded her that “Mar-Mar” and (now) “Oompah” didn’t like it when she played with the clock.  She backed right off.  My thought was that she was not really concerned about possible punishment; rather, she was more concerned about losing her grandparents' approval than with playing with the clock!  She didn’t know it, but Lily taught me something that day.  She didn’t want to do anything that would keep her Mar-Mar and Oompah from loving her (as if THAT could ever happen), even for a minute!  And neither do I want to do anything that would separate me from my Loving Father, even for a second!  Just as I knew Lily would probably try to play with the clock when she thought no one was looking and we would forgive her, so it is with me and God.  I try not to offend Him, but I’m weak.  I am ever so grateful that His love is greater than my weakness.

The serenity that I see in some people can only come from this true faith and trust in the Lord.  The peace that they exude is there regardless of the circumstances.  It’s evident in both good times and bad times.  It’s evident in both their prayers of petition and prayers of thanksgiving regardless of immediate outcomes, that they are one with the Lord.  That kind of success outweighs all the rest.  It’s something to aim for and cherish.