Faith in Crisis

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:5-8 ESV).

 

Our reading today has a very contemporary theme. When in the midst of any critical time, everyone looks for rest. The means to that can only be found in our faith. Often faith can seem vague and theoretical. It appears to be little more than an exercise in debate. At least that’s true until we find ourselves in a crisis and at the end of our strength. Then, like the spare tire in your trunk when you have a flat, your faith suddenly becomes very important. In fact, it may be the only way out of the mess you’re in.

 

In the middle of a crisis, all we usually hope for is some way to get the situation straightened out so that we can move on. No one likes to need faith. As with the little spare tire that comes with most cars today (you know, the little “donut” spare that’s designed to go just a few miles), most of us are willing to rely on our faith for a little while, only as long as we need it. But just as you’ll want to get a real tire back on your car as soon as you can, so also most of us want to move past our faith reliance and find a real reason for confidence. At least that’s how it can seem.

 

It seems to me that we also face the temptation to call blind trust in fate as faith. I suppose it is natural, but it is devastating to mistake fate for faith. Fate would tell us we have no hope. Life will unfold with all of its challenge and difficulty and there is simply nothing we can do to change it. That is not the position of faith in the Scripture. It is true that much of our lives are beyond our control; however, none of it is beyond God’s control. Faith takes me to the source of control over circumstance; faith takes me to the Creator and Redeemer of all mankind. It takes me to God.

 

No one likes crises, but it’s not hard to see how God can use our crises to reach us in ways that he might not reach us otherwise. Most of us pray differently—more earnestly—in times of crisis. Our fear can prod us to squint for God through the fog of our uncertainty. And the more we squint, the more we begin to see God.

 

See Him and trust His way for your life. It will always work together for your good!