God is Creator and Lord of all the earth. He is King of glory and King of kings. He is the Ancient of Days, the Self-existent one. He is Almighty, He is holy, He is mighty and He is great. And yet, He put on flesh and became Emmanuel, God with us. More than that, He came to serve us.
Emmanuel came to die. Our reconciliation to God was bought with His blood. Why would God allow Himself to be brutally sacrificed? Christ owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the least of His heavenly dwellings is a mansion with many, many rooms, yet He had no place to lay His head as He walked the earth. He is Lord of lords, yet “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him” (Isaiah 53:2). Can we be surprised when people were confused about Him? Faith can be hard.
Our very Lord washed His disciples feet. He ate with prostitutes, rough blue collar guys, and cheating tax collectors. He cared for the sinner and had harsh words for religious leaders. The people of the time were looking for a grand and lovely King for their Messiah. They got a wandering street preacher surrounded by rabble. They expected the roaring Lion of Judah and instead received the Lamb of God.
Faith can be hard. We go through dark times, but God uses it for good. We see all through a mirror darkly and know of spiritual things only in part (1 Corin. 13:12). We understand little and are desperate for hope. We almost understand that there is something greater, and we long for it without knowing what it is. And we are the blessed ones, the ones who somehow weeded out the chaff and found the Bread of Life.
It is not a difficult thing to imagine lost souls having some confusion, of them being, well…lost. The things a follower of Christ believes are hard to comprehend. We can do nothing to save ourselves from our own sin. Only faith in God, who became man and shed His life blood, can save us. Christians will continue to face hardship after they put their faith in Christ. It is no cure-all. We are commanded to love our enemies and forgive wrongs even though we still hurt. We are called to tell the world about Christ, even though our telling is profoundly inadequate. Sometimes, when I really think about it, my faith makes almost no sense at all.
I think that’s the beauty of faith in Christ. It makes no earthly sense. It loves without earthly conditions and heals without earthly boundaries. It is joy amidst pain and trust when your heart is broken. It is weeping and being comforted by the arms of a God I cannot see but utterly feel. I am loved at my most wretched state and seen by the Most High God when I feel invisible and unwanted. It makes no earthly sense, but to a follower of Christ, it makes perfect sense spiritually. Faith can be hard when you see with your eyes, but it can be simple when you open your heart.
Written By Janet Keefe
