Life Matters

Faith can be a challenge...

Posted 4/6/16

Many Christian churches listened to the gospel last Sunday about Doubting Thomas, the apostle who would not believe in the resurrection of Christ unless he saw the wounds in His hands and feet. It is …

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Life Matters

Faith can be a challenge...

Posted

Many Christian churches listened to the gospel last Sunday about Doubting Thomas, the apostle who would not believe in the resurrection of Christ unless he saw the wounds in His hands and feet. It is safe to assume that many people, Christian or not, have often doubted the existence of God. Faith is a challenge when one cannot see it or feel it.

My life has been blessed with the certainty of God’s existence. My brother was born multiply disabled with Rubella syndrome, (of special interest to those parents who do not believe in immunizations.) He was severely hearing impaired, blind, severely developmentally disabled, had a cleft palate, and several other physical anomalies. My mom spent the first few months of his life sobbing on her bed. It was a confusing time for me as a child...my mom was not available to me, this new creature in my house mewed like a kitten for hours on end, and my dad did everything he could not to be home. Life seemed hopeless and sad. One sunny, warm day, my mom sat in the sun parlor on a rocking chair, rocking Curtis as he cried his inconsolable kitten cry. Then a miracle happened...God visited mom. He came right on in, with a brightness that far surpassed the streaming sunlight, a brightness that would have been blinding were it not for the fact that it wasn’t. He exuded the warmth of all encompassing love. The next thing that happened was miraculous.

No, Curtis was not cured, but with encouragement from her “Visitor”, a depth of understanding was passed along to my mom, along with a glimpse of what joy awaits us. She stopped crying that day, and for all the days that followed. My brother was embraced for the beautiful child he was. He was raised with love; encouraged to do his best and accepted for what he could do, not what he couldn’t. His life, with all of its obstacles, was a full and joyful one. My young life was affected by this experience, and I am still humbled in awe of all that life has to offer.

For the many people who have no reason to take my word regarding His existence, it is normal to question what type of God would allow people to go hungry, get sick and live on the streets. Life is hard. Bad things happen all over the world. Why doesn’t God DO something?

The lyrics of Matthew West’s song sums it up for me:

“I woke up this morning,

Saw a world full of trouble now

Thought, how’d we ever get so far down

How’s it ever gonna turn around

So I turned my eyes to Heaven

I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”

Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of

People living in poverty

Children sold into slavery

The thought disgusted me

So, I shook my fist at Heaven

Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”

He said, “I did, I created you””

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