Do you have a question about how Christianity can be applied in your daily life? Read some questions and answers from RLC's column in the Pembroke Observer and feel free to ask your own questions! This Blog will give you a sample of some past columns.
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In Big Trouble
June 18, 2016
Dear Sam, I've had a very bad experience and I'm feeling sad and mad and hopeless. Does this mean I've lost my faith?
-In Big Trouble-
Dear Troubled,
It depends on the who and what of your faith. It is possible to believe in God and then to put your faith in your own belief. The trouble with that is that we tend to believe our own beliefs because we believe them. When that happens (it's called idolatry), you enter into a self-deception that feeds off the desires of your own heart, to which God replies in Jeremiah 17:9 “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt.” That doesn't sound like good news until you realize that faith, trust, belief in God's view is far more dependable than your own interpretation of things. Would your bad experience have a different meaning if you had faith in God and obeyed his command to “thank him in all things”, including this disappointment? Instead of burying yourself in sad, mad and hopeless could you begin to look up, expecting this situation to give you wisdom, mature you, maybe teach you the necessity of forgiveness? Faith in God means that whatever happens you know that something meaningful can come of it. We all have bad experiences because we are sinful and live in a sinfilled world. But Jesus defeated the absolute consequence of sin and offers to bring truth and freedom to our souls imprisoned in the deceptions that have masqueraded as faith. You may have lost your faith, but now you can replace it with Christ's faith. Surround yourself with mature Christians who have discovered this reality, and let them be encouragers and mentors to you.
INSIDE THE ISSUE is authored thru Resurrection Lutheran Church, 250 Quarry Rd, Pembroke.
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