Being Holy, Being Human

I read a book today called ‘Being Holy, Being Human’ by Jay kesley – this next section resounded in my heart.

 

"I find that many bible teachers begin to feel guilty or afraid if their minds start entertaining doubts like these (Is there really a God? How could He let suffering happen?). They think such thoughts indicate a lack of faith. There was a time when I felt that way, too. My understanding now, however, is that most men and women of great faith down through the centuries have entertained such doubts. The psalms, for example, are full of expressions of deep doubt, especially those of David, “the man after God’s own heart.”

Faith is the conviction that there ought to be justice, that in some larger context there must be an answer. The questions we voice are actually expressions of a longing for satisfaction, a longing implanted by God. When we see evil triumph, the truly godless response would be to say, “So what else is new? Why shouldn’t the world be that way?”

One of the signs of faithful people is that they’re troubled by evil and injustice—even when they seemingly come about as “an act of God.” So such “doubt” is actually a seeking for God in the midst of confusion, and that’s a profound kind of faith. In fact, I might wonder about you a little if you claim never to ask such questions.

Humanity has struggled since the beginning of time with the attempt to reconcile the love and power of God with the pain we see around us every day. And it is a struggle if we’re honest.

Faith, as I have come to understand it, is not an absence of doubt. Only those who refuse to look at the world realistically never doubt. In that light, faith is not the absence of doubt. Faith is looking squarely at the evidence—the statements of Scripture as well as the confusing realities that suggest life is capricious and there is no loving God—and choosing, by faith, to continue in obedience and love toward God."

My faith, my security as a Christian, rests not in my impeccable logic and my ability to remove all doubts. It rests not in getting God all figured out. Rather, my faith rests in knowing God’s nature. As I have come to know him as a loving father, I can be assured of his forgiveness, his goodness, and his power.

In my own life, I have come to a point of being able to say that even though I still have doubts, by faith I will suspend judgment until God can explain it to me some day.