Do I believe?
Genesis 15:3-6
3.
And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine
heir.
4.
And, behold, the word
of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5.
And he brought him
forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be
able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6.
And he believed in the
LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… You
who fear him, trust in the Lord… God’s ways are above man’s ways… The LORD is
the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?… Fear not, for I am with you always….
Great stuff.
As one who holds the Bible as Sacred Scripture, what do I do with these
words? Do I hold them as sacred, as the
most powerful and significant meaning of and for my life? If so, then I surely would not be suffering
from a paralyzing phobia. But, I do have
a phobia – a very serious one.
My particular “persistent, irrational fear of a
specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to
avoid it”[1] is
a fear of not being heard. I realize
that this may seem to have some cosmic, mystic overtones, but I don’t mean it
that way. I am literally afraid that
nobody will hear me when I call out for assistance. Being completely physically disabled by a
motor neuron disease, and, therefore, utterly dependent on others for every
physical need – I cannot even scratch my own cheek – I have been told that my fear
is reasonable. But, it isn’t. The phobic panic begins when my mother is
simply vacuuming in the next room. Every
time I hear an outside door open, my insides jump and I call out to make sure
that someone is staying in the house with me.
My parents know my phobia very well and they would never intentionally
leave me alone to suffer. But, mistakes
can happen, I know and I tell them – but I very much would like to trust them
more. And, even if they are human and
fallible – at least, I should trust God that nothing bad would happen to me
even if no other human could hear me for 10 minutes or even an hour. God’s grace can surely even calm a panic
attack. Right?
Is this a matter of a lack of faith? A priest, whom I greatly respect and admire,
has told me that it is not. This is,
obviously, a psychological problem.
Maybe I need to go see a therapist.
But, it does raise serious questions about human fears and how the
faithful trust in the Lord.
“For I know well the plans I have
in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so
as to give you a future of hope. When you call me, and
come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes,
when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find
me…”[2].
Abram believed God when he was told that God would
change his lot. Abram believed in the
power of God to work miracles and to make the impossible possible. And Abram put all of his trust, all of this
faith – all of his heart – in the LORD. “I
believe” or “credo” means to give one’s heart.
Abram followed God with utter trust, even though it meant leaving
everything that he knew behind him. His leap
of faith was a life-changing experience – it was even a name changing
experience. This man did not merely believe,
in an intellectual kind of way, that the words spoken to him by God were
true. He believed in God. He was willing to
give over everything to the One in whom he believed, the one to whom he had
given his heart. Even when he didn’t
understand. Even when he sorrowed over
it. And God counted it as righteousness
in him – Abraham was exactly who he was supposed to be.
But, we humans crave certainty. We want to know for sure. We want proof. But… Where there is proof, where is trust? Because there is no dead certainty in the
life of faith (no, there is nothing dead in God) people are often uncomfortable
in it. They turn to concrete matters and
science for answers and guidance. If
something cannot be methodically tested and, therefore, scientifically verified,
then it is dismissed. But, by doing
this, we miss out on the fullness of life.
For there is something beyond certainty that is precious and powerful. There is something more beautiful and
profound in the leap of faith than there ever can be in sure knowledge.
Am I sure?…
I am a messy, mixed up human being. And I am in love… and I am believing…
© 2014 Christina
Chase
No comments:
Post a Comment