Faith has never been a controversial subject for me, in fact just the opposite. I grew up in the church, and have always believed in God. Even in the really rough parts of my life, I believed that He would be there for me. When my mom died, I wanted to be angry, but somehow I knew I would be fine. But that belief was more of a “well I sure hope so”, rather than putting my heart and soul into a “yes, God will always be there for me”.
In college biology I remember talking with a girl about how much I really enjoyed the class, and she told me that she strongly disliked our professor. Confused because I rather enjoyed his lectures, she told me that she talks of evolution as fact, instead of a theory. That he downplays the Bible for all the truth it can hold. My comment back didn’t startle me at the time, but thinking back is shocking. I asked her if she really believed all that “Old Testament stuff”. I told her that those old stories are probably just extravagant parables, rather than real events. Like come on, would a man really survive beating eaten by a whale for 3 days and live to tell about it?
Fast forward to today, Blake and I were talking about Passover, which is at the end of April. We talked about how before Christ, the Christians and Jews used to be just one people, and how Passover saved us all. Explaining the plagues and the spirit of death were all surreal to me. As I talked, it became obvious that this story rang clear and true. It was no longer a question of how could that be possible, but why not? Why could God not use his unending power and love to shape his people and show himself? How have I not believed the Word of God fully this entire time?
Faith is how I know I’m supposed to leave for the race now, and not in 5 years once I have enough money, or a great job, or a husband and a house. Things are going great for me right now- I have to admit. I have a few great jobs (which could lead to great careers), got offered a job in England, a great boyfriend and a great support system. Life is good. But God doesn’t ask easy things of us. He asked David to kill a freaking giant. He allowed Satan to test Job to every extent. If He’s asking me to give up this plush and easy life to follow His commands and His words, maybe that’s not so crazy? Let’s just hope I don’t get swallowed by a whale.
