Posted 11:39 pm Saturday, February 09, 2013
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Waiting leads to thoughts on faith
If I don’t have a column idea by the time Thursday morning rolls around, I start to get nervous.
“All right, Lord, where is that delicious divine inspiration You’ve faithfully provided?” I pro-tested.
All I got in return was “wait.”
So, that’s all I have for you this week. While waiting for a column idea, I was struck by just how hard it is to wait without the assurance that what you’re waiting for will ever be delivered. The agony is multiplied exponentially when what you’re waiting for is more serious than a column idea — say, a mystery diagnosis, a spouse, a pregnancy, a job.
Last week, the writer and director of the film “Beyond the Farthest Star,” Andrew Librizzi, said something that stuck with me.
“God is touched by our feelings of weakness.”
It’s one of the hardest things to believe, because we know that God could miraculously change our circumstances in an instant. He’s that powerful.
But as time passes on and we grow tired of waiting, the thought begins to gnaw at us that He doesn’t care.
We begin to wonder if He has forgotten us.
Faith demands that we, against all odds, believe otherwise. And faith can be an awfully bossy and stubborn companion.
A surprising story has surfaced this week: One of the most outspoken members of Westboro Baptist Church, the infamous congregation in Kansas that hatefully protests military funerals, has left the church — and her family.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for Megan Phelps-Roper, oddly enough, was a Jewish friend reminding her of the words of Jesus, and how they didn’t line up with Westboro’s practices.
So, that’s all I have for you this week. While waiting for a column idea, I was struck by just how hard it is to wait without the assurance that what you’re waiting for will ever be delivered. The agony is multiplied exponentially when what you’re waiting for is more serious than a column idea — say, a mystery diagnosis, a spouse, a pregnancy, a job.
Last week, the writer and director of the film “Beyond the Farthest Star,” Andrew Librizzi, said something that stuck with me.
“God is touched by our feelings of weakness.”
It’s one of the hardest things to believe, because we know that God could miraculously change our circumstances in an instant. He’s that powerful.
But as time passes on and we grow tired of waiting, the thought begins to gnaw at us that He doesn’t care.
We begin to wonder if He has forgotten us.
Faith demands that we, against all odds, believe otherwise. And faith can be an awfully bossy and stubborn companion.
A surprising story has surfaced this week: One of the most outspoken members of Westboro Baptist Church, the infamous congregation in Kansas that hatefully protests military funerals, has left the church — and her family.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for Megan Phelps-Roper, oddly enough, was a Jewish friend reminding her of the words of Jesus, and how they didn’t line up with Westboro’s practices.
Her account of the doubts that caused her to leave and the situation she’s in now cries out for empathy.
She has a long road ahead of her. She has to reexamine everything she’s been taught for the last 27 years of her life. That’s a lot of terrifying uncertainty for a long time to come.
But if Scriptures are trustworthy, her waiting won’t be in vain.
“Wait for the Lord,” David writes in Psalm 27. “Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
She has a long road ahead of her. She has to reexamine everything she’s been taught for the last 27 years of her life. That’s a lot of terrifying uncertainty for a long time to come.
But if Scriptures are trustworthy, her waiting won’t be in vain.
“Wait for the Lord,” David writes in Psalm 27. “Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
