Crisis of Faith
When was the last time you had a crisis of faith? We all do. We have those times when we are not sure if God is even listening, it doesn't seem as if He is even there. Sometimes when we pray we feel as if our prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling and not getting through. Why would God let this happen to me? Why does God bless him and not me? I was following God the best I could and He let someone or some situation hurt me. Doesn't God love me and want what is good for me?
You know what I am talking about. Walking in faith is sometimes hard. God allows us to go through tough times to test our faith. 1 Pet. 1:7
Mother Teresa is a modern day hero of the faith. For over 40 years, she devoted her life to the needs of the orphaned, penniless, and sick people of Calcutta. She lived such a sacrificial life of service that she has achieved super human status among us common folk. Surely a woman this devoted to God would never have doubts, fears, or a crisis of faith. Unless she really was human. What if she was just a normal human being who committed her life to Christ and God used her in a great way?
In a recent Time magazine article, Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith by David Van Biema, correspondence between Teresa and spiritual confidants show the human side of this faithful Christ-follower.
In 1979, while receiving her Nobel Peace Prize, she said, "It is not enough for us to say, 'I love God, but I do not love my neighbor,'" she said, since in dying on the Cross, God had "[made] himself the hungry one — the naked one — the homeless one." Jesus' hunger, she said, is what "you and I must find" and alleviate. She condemned abortion and bemoaned youthful drug addiction in the West. Finally, she suggested that the upcoming Christmas holiday should remind the world "that radiating joy is real" because Christ is everywhere — "Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive."
Van Biema wrote, "Yet less than three months earlier, in a letter to a spiritual confidant, the Rev. Michael van der Peet, that is only now being made public, she wrote with weary familiarity of a different Christ, an absent one. "Jesus has a very special love for you," she assured Van der Peet. "[But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ... I want you to pray for me — that I let Him have [a] free hand."
The presence of doubt does not mean there is an absence of faith. It takes great faith to be obedient to God when the darkness of fear, doubt, and loneliness are present. No matter how many times Teresa struggled with her faith, because of her faithful obedience, she was very pleasing to God. Heb 11:6
It does not take super human strength to serve God and be a hero, or a great witness of the faith, it just takes the commitment to be obedient. Rom. 12:1 God provides his strength. I am thankful for God lead human witnesses like Mother Teresa. There is hope for me yet.
This Sunday Morning: EPIC Joy - A Study of Philippians part 9 - Running a Race for Joy
In chapter three the apostle Paul compares living a life of faith with running a race to win God's prize. This Sunday we will look at how we are to run to win.
If you are part of the LCC family, please join us Sunday and bring a friend. If you are a friend of LCC your prayers and support are greatly appreciated.
Serving you in Christ
Royal
You know what I am talking about. Walking in faith is sometimes hard. God allows us to go through tough times to test our faith. 1 Pet. 1:7
Mother Teresa is a modern day hero of the faith. For over 40 years, she devoted her life to the needs of the orphaned, penniless, and sick people of Calcutta. She lived such a sacrificial life of service that she has achieved super human status among us common folk. Surely a woman this devoted to God would never have doubts, fears, or a crisis of faith. Unless she really was human. What if she was just a normal human being who committed her life to Christ and God used her in a great way?
In a recent Time magazine article, Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith by David Van Biema, correspondence between Teresa and spiritual confidants show the human side of this faithful Christ-follower.
In 1979, while receiving her Nobel Peace Prize, she said, "It is not enough for us to say, 'I love God, but I do not love my neighbor,'" she said, since in dying on the Cross, God had "[made] himself the hungry one — the naked one — the homeless one." Jesus' hunger, she said, is what "you and I must find" and alleviate. She condemned abortion and bemoaned youthful drug addiction in the West. Finally, she suggested that the upcoming Christmas holiday should remind the world "that radiating joy is real" because Christ is everywhere — "Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive."
Van Biema wrote, "Yet less than three months earlier, in a letter to a spiritual confidant, the Rev. Michael van der Peet, that is only now being made public, she wrote with weary familiarity of a different Christ, an absent one. "Jesus has a very special love for you," she assured Van der Peet. "[But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ... I want you to pray for me — that I let Him have [a] free hand."
The presence of doubt does not mean there is an absence of faith. It takes great faith to be obedient to God when the darkness of fear, doubt, and loneliness are present. No matter how many times Teresa struggled with her faith, because of her faithful obedience, she was very pleasing to God. Heb 11:6
It does not take super human strength to serve God and be a hero, or a great witness of the faith, it just takes the commitment to be obedient. Rom. 12:1 God provides his strength. I am thankful for God lead human witnesses like Mother Teresa. There is hope for me yet.
This Sunday Morning: EPIC Joy - A Study of Philippians part 9 - Running a Race for Joy
In chapter three the apostle Paul compares living a life of faith with running a race to win God's prize. This Sunday we will look at how we are to run to win.
If you are part of the LCC family, please join us Sunday and bring a friend. If you are a friend of LCC your prayers and support are greatly appreciated.
Serving you in Christ
Royal
posted by Royal | 3:37 PM
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