At one point in your life, if you are honest with yourself, you will be confronted with a crisis in your faith. Now let me say this is not a bad thing. If fact, it can become a foundation for you to grow in your understanding of God at work in your life's journey.
The crisis usually comes when tragedy or change occurs in your life. It could be an untimely death or a loss of job. For some it is the loss of health or a significant relationship in life. There is a disconnect with our expectations of life. One disconnect usually leads to many more disconnects.
During this time one is prone to ask or say some pretty remarkable things. Not remarkable in terms of the positive. Remarkable in terms of self preservation or selfishness. Maybe you have said some of these. "Where are you God?" "Why are you doing this to me?" What have I done to deserve this?" One becomes disappointed in God and those around you.
If we are lucky we have surrounded ourselves with relationships that help us sort out these things. It usually requires not only good relationships but time as well. One can come to discover that faith is not something that keeps bad things away from us. We do not become and are not God's little darling in the sense of keeping life from happening to us and around us. Instead we learn that God goes through the valley with us. God carries us when we cannot carry ourselves. God loves us when no one else does.
This Sunday I am beginning a series of sermons on Faith. As I have written these sermons, I have come to realize many things about my own journey. I have learned that it is most accurate to talk about a faith journey or faith relationship with God. That God chooses to be vulnerable in that relationship as I am vulnerable. That is what relationships are all about.
We avoid a faith crisis when are focus on the relationship. Just as in marriage, friends, or work--relationships require work. Relationships go through times of crisis. But the difference is that during the crisis times of good relationships, there is opportunity for growth. There is opportunity for seeds to be planted. There is opportunity for great growth to be born. Sadly, some folks disconnect from relationships that have the potential for great growth. Their self- centeredness cannot bear the truth.
A wolf spider helps me understand some of this. The wolf spider carries it babies on its back. If you kill the wolf spider, all of the baby spiders that it has been carrying will scurry for their life. In a sense, the death of the mother, forces life for the babies.
So it is in faith when there is a crisis. Change gives us the opportunity not to disconnect or detach, but to give birth--to give life. During these times, one needs to ask what one can learn about one's self as well as listen for God's words or direction. What needs to die? What needs to be born?
In the faith journey, a deeper relationship with God is always an option.
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