Finding Faith of the Heart

The late Gene Roddenberry, Great Bird of the Galaxy and creator of Star Trek was a humanist and an optimist. He believed that humanity would one day put aside its prejudices and take its place among whatever intelligent peace-loving races of the universe there may be.

Unfortunately, optimism has been in short supply these days. Even Star Trek itself has been infected by the Dark Side. Yes, we have suffered many tragedies of late. Yet I cannot believe it is a good thing that we continue to wallow in the darkness, especially if we are to be believers.

Imagination is the first step of any journey. I cannot help but believe that it has been one of Satan's goal of late to destroy our faith in the future. Along with the immediate suffering it produces the new pessimism make us easy to be manipulated, even those of us who are supposed believe in the victory Christ promises us. Satan knows that if we cannot envision the goal we will never reach it.

Regrettably I am not an optimist like Mr. Roddenberry. I have battled depression most of my life. To be honest there are times when my faith in God seems totally meaningless. I don't deny the bad things that are going on around me, but I know that to embrace the darkness is deadly. I also know that if there remains anything worth living for it will be found in Jesus.

Your God is Too Large

Many people know of my love for the music of Amy Grant. In fact her music is more comforting to me than the usual songs sung in church. The reason is that much of her music is of a more personal nature.

I honestly do not know how other Christians feel about this. Sometimes I sit in church and listen to the songs about how great God is and how He is over everything. Nothing really wrong here except some times when I am hurting all the talk of God’s power and glory and all the words simply means nothing to  me.

Obviously, God is beyond human understanding, but sometimes that is precisely the problem. How does a transcendent God fit into our daily lives, much less offer comfort and direction. We are like Moses, who wanted to see God’s glory but as a mortal could not hope to comprehend it.

A God too large cannot offer us comfort and for some is often quite intimidating and tends to invoke fear not love. There are times I really don’t need a God who is “Over and Above All”. I need one who is over and above my fears and weaknesses and who calls me to conquer them. I need a God small enough for me to call “Father”