JR. Forasteros - August 17, 2014
Haggai
When we experience crushing tragedy, recovering seems impossible. Often, we build walls inside ourselves, keeping our hearts and souls safe - or so we think. Haggai shows us that in the wake of the Exile, God's people were doing the same. They were neglecting their relationship with God because it was too painful. But Haggai's challenge to them is the same as to us: if we stay behind our walls, we'll slowly die. We must embrace God once again, and when we do, we'll find not a God who is cold, uncaring and distant, but a God who suffers with us, who is working even now to redeem the world.
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Indulge me in a thought experiment. For some of you, it may take a lot of imagination, and for others, it may be a little easier. But whether you’re a Christian or not, whether you believe in God or not, here’s what I want you to imagine:
What would be different in your life if you were 100% certain that God existed and you had perfect faith in God? What if you were absolutely certain that God was with you all the time? What if you had no doubt ever that no matter what came at you, God is at work to bring you good and that one day you would look back and marvel at what God was up to now that you didn’t see? What if you knew in your bones that the laws and principles God gave us were because God wants what’s best for us?
How would your responses change to tragedies, job losses, sickness? How would it change your response to unexpected success? How would it change your relationships?
I want to call this total certainty, total trust in God “Big Faith”. Every now and again, we meet people who have this kind of ‘big faith’. When you do, they can almost seem delusional – they’re in the midst of a major life crisis and they seem serene. They say something like, “I know it’s hard, but God’ll get us through.” And you want to shake them and point out all the reasons the sort of faith they’re demonstrating is foolish.
But on the other hand, they don’t seem to be in denial. They just seem… confident. Like this trust they’re giving voice to is genuine. Like they know something we don’t, something we can’t take away from them no matter how many facts and figures we throw at them because it’s not blind faith… it’s BIG faith.
How do we get Big Faith? The good news is that God wants us to have Big Faith, so it’s not something we have to earn or work hard for or deserve.
