Obedience to God is itself a challenge at times. Obedience to God when there seems to be no evidence of God, even more challenging.
As I read this quote of Lewis', I ask myself how often this has impacted me: How often I have been in a universe where I have seen no evidence of God actively out there and continued on? The reflection is not a good one: more often than not, I can barely obey God (or have failed to obey Him) when I am quite aware of His presence (and what He expects of me).
Have I ever been completely bereft of the presence of God?
A hard question. That I can consciously think of, no. Even when there situations where I felt that I was completely abandoned (due to existing circumstances), there was never that sense that there is no God. But that probably speaks more to the ease of my own life rather than any real circumstance that I found myself in.
Which likely says one of two things: Either it really has never happened, or God really does not trust me to do so in such circumstances due to my weakness of belief.
I remember struggling to understand faith, and how Abram was found righteous. I read and reread Hebrews 11. I tried to see that pronouncement over in Genesis, when he lied about Sarah, and took Hagar. I could identify with his wish to not die, his worry about famine, his culturally okay method of "helping God out" of the tight spot regarding an heir. But how did Hebrews paint that picture of a righteous man?
ReplyDeleteI finally thought, it wasn't the failures that defined the faith, it was the scary parts he got right.
-"Get out of here, I'll show you where to go later." And he packed and left.
-"Wander around and it's yours." And he did. Nomading all over Canaan.
-"Take Isaac, your only son...." And he did it. Trusting that God knew what He was doing.
Faith is putting shoe leather to what you know God has said, even when it's hard, it's scary, you can't see the upside or you don't feel like it. Not too difficult a concept, actually.
It is not a difficult concept in theory, STxAR. For me at least, it is terribly difficult in practice at times.
DeleteWell I'm glad to see the experts struggle with this sometimes too.
ReplyDeleteGlen, I am always happy to read someone like Lewis and realize that I - we -are not alone.
DeleteAnytime I am far from God, it's not because He moved.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really good thought, John. Something I had not thought of before.
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