Sunday, January 4, 2009

Hope

A couple of nights ago I spent a while with a friend discussing the times in our lives when we have wanted to walk away from God and stop believing.

My friend’s life has been far from easy.... so many things have happened in her life that are completely unjust, unfair and potentially soul-destroying. She has so many reasons why no longer believing in God or being a ‘Christian’ seems like a justifiable response.

She is a miracle.

Despite what she has faced, she has within her a faith that is miraculous. She still believes in God, she still trusts him, she is part of a church – a spiritual home, she has found love and partnership in a man to share the rest of her life with. She is broken, but amazingly hopeful.

I, too, have had dark moments in my life where I no longer wanted to believe. There are times when I have been so hopeless, that suicide seemed like the best option. I believed God had abandoned me. And yet the only reason I am alive today is that God intervened. I am a miracle.

While my friend shared with me her irreconcilable pain and difficulties, we wondered aloud how we still had hope, how we still saw beauty in life. Why is it that we still cling to God and his promises, despite our best efforts to run the other way? The answer, it seems: only God.

God, in his infinite love, has mysteriously gifted us with faith and hope. My friend cannot explain it. I cannot explain it. Yet, God is. And we are grateful. Our human minds still cannot understand or fathom some things, we never will this side of heaven, I guess. But the only way for me, and my friend, to live is to hold onto the mystery of God and his love. I can’t explain it, and it will seem illogical to the world, but in the face of pain and injustice I will go on believing in hope and love. I will go on believing because I have seen evidence of God in my friend’s life.... and she truly is a miracle.

1 comment:

Dave Schipper said...

I'm reminded of one of the best Christian song written by typically a folk musician, Pierce Pettis... "I've got a Hope."... recently Carolyn Arends did a great cover...

I think personally you know an Angel who has been touched.

Dave