Faith trumps the South Pole

January 19, 2010 in: Devotions

This winter has grown long and wearisome.  Can I get an amen?

Several days of below-zero weather were especially trying. My thermal long underwear grew itchy and uncomfortable. The wind howled and I swear I shoveled the same snow out of the driveway three times. At one point, it was actually colder in Missouri than it was in Antarctica. Talk about cold!

The difference is that this week in Missouri, temperatures edged above freezing.  The snow is melting and patches of grass are showing through. In a few more weeks (okay, several weeks) tulips will be poking through the soil and the robins will fly into the yard.

At the South Pole, by contrast, the snow is still blowing and it’s as cold as ever. Tulips never bloom on the frozen continent.

Spring is more than something I think will happen, I know it will arrive and that gives me hope through the cold, dark days of winter.

That, I believe, is similar to how it is to live a life of faith. Our faith gets challenged from time to time. The horrible earthquake and its aftermath in Haiti is one cause.  We look at all that suffering and wonder how God could allow that to happen. Some friends are grappling with tough, tough issues and it’s just not right. I keep praying over the same situations, but the answer hasn’t come.

Sometimes, those who trust God seem to be as helpless as those who reject him and live life on their own terms. However, there is a difference. Living without faith is bleak — with no expectation it will ever get better or that there is a purpose for it. Spring never arrives in a faithless land.

With faith, though, we rest in confidence that though evil howls and pain seeps into our bones, it won’t last forever. God is at work beneath the frozen soil. Even in the most desperate situations, He is working out his purposes for good.

Missouri is not an ideal Eden, but I’d rather live here than in Antarctica. The life of faith is not perfect, but I’d rather walk this journey than give up all hope.

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1