“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith believes without seeing, touching, or truly knowing.
The healing process is a journey that will take us to unexpected places. There is no absolute map, for each path is unique to the one on the journey. It is like having a trail guide. If you have never seen or used a trail guide, allow me to explain. I have section hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail through North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. For this section of the trail, there is a little pink book that if you follow along page by page, it will tell you where you might find a water source, a good place to sleep, or various hazards to avoid or at least be aware (like bears!). I have hiked one particular 40-mile section three times – once in snow, once right after the spring thaw, and once in extreme heat. The guide book helped me stay on the trail, but it did not have solutions to frozen ground, ice covered wood, high winds, and an inability to stake down the tent. It did not help when the trail that follows the Laurel River was covered in rapids. It did not help when water sources are dried up in the summer heat. While there is some idea of where the healing journey will take us, we will all have unique trials and road blocks along the way.
Healing requires a little faith in us. It is having faith that when we hit unfamiliar obstacles, problems we have yet not experienced, we will find a way to navigate through it. It trusts our adaptability and creative skills.
Healing requires faith to hold onto hope – faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel even if we cannot see it at the moment. It is faith and belief that God is truly not out to destroy us. Faith and trust that the trials we are enduring are indeed temporary. Faith that God has plans to use all of our experiences, even our wounds, for the greater good.
Many of us struggle with faith, and rather than trusting the process – trusting that as the journey unfolds we will figure our way through it, we grow anxious. In our anxiety, we feel unsafe. We doubt the God of all comfort. We doubt our abilities to get through the darkness. We begin to grasp for control. We may yell out, “I am not taking another step further unless I know exactly where this is going and what it is going to ask of me!”
Many of us dig our heels in the ground and cease moving. Rather than continuing along the path of not-knowing, we cling to a world of black-and-white. Our world becomes either-or. You are with me, or you are against me. You are all-good, or you are all-bad. When everything is ordered and controlled, we no longer have a need for faith. Your religion, your relationships, your world is based upon what you can see, touch, and control.
Faith is letting go. It is taking the journey as it comes. It is trusting that wherever it takes us, it will indeed be good.
The healing process is a journey that will take us to unexpected places. There is no absolute map, for each path is unique to the one on the journey. It is like having a trail guide. If you have never seen or used a trail guide, allow me to explain. I have section hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail through North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. For this section of the trail, there is a little pink book that if you follow along page by page, it will tell you where you might find a water source, a good place to sleep, or various hazards to avoid or at least be aware (like bears!). I have hiked one particular 40-mile section three times – once in snow, once right after the spring thaw, and once in extreme heat. The guide book helped me stay on the trail, but it did not have solutions to frozen ground, ice covered wood, high winds, and an inability to stake down the tent. It did not help when the trail that follows the Laurel River was covered in rapids. It did not help when water sources are dried up in the summer heat. While there is some idea of where the healing journey will take us, we will all have unique trials and road blocks along the way.
Healing requires a little faith in us. It is having faith that when we hit unfamiliar obstacles, problems we have yet not experienced, we will find a way to navigate through it. It trusts our adaptability and creative skills.
Healing requires faith to hold onto hope – faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel even if we cannot see it at the moment. It is faith and belief that God is truly not out to destroy us. Faith and trust that the trials we are enduring are indeed temporary. Faith that God has plans to use all of our experiences, even our wounds, for the greater good.
Many of us struggle with faith, and rather than trusting the process – trusting that as the journey unfolds we will figure our way through it, we grow anxious. In our anxiety, we feel unsafe. We doubt the God of all comfort. We doubt our abilities to get through the darkness. We begin to grasp for control. We may yell out, “I am not taking another step further unless I know exactly where this is going and what it is going to ask of me!”
Many of us dig our heels in the ground and cease moving. Rather than continuing along the path of not-knowing, we cling to a world of black-and-white. Our world becomes either-or. You are with me, or you are against me. You are all-good, or you are all-bad. When everything is ordered and controlled, we no longer have a need for faith. Your religion, your relationships, your world is based upon what you can see, touch, and control.
Faith is letting go. It is taking the journey as it comes. It is trusting that wherever it takes us, it will indeed be good.
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