8.30.2007

Faith vs. Burning Bushes

Okay, so I'm here blogging even though the midst of a busy week getting ready for 1 single day this Saturday! But this article from Boundless came into my inbox and after casually glancing it, one article did catch my eye and now I'm writing about it because I think it touches on some excellent points that I want to share.

One of the first paragraphs that made me sit up and take notice was this:

We as Christians and we as a broader culture are having trouble making choices....People confronted with too many choices. Let me go back to something I said before. There's lots of ways you can distill what commitment is down in one sentence, and of course it's a very complex topic that I think and write a lot about. One of the best ways I think of what commitment always means is making a choice to give up other choices. It always means that. Whatever else it may mean in a particular context, it always means that. And if being committed in life means making a choice to give up other choices, having lots of choices and knowing that makes it difficult for people to actually sit down and make a choice is an increasing huge dilemma in our culture. It's a problem for Christians because we're affected by our culture of choice and the idea that we should keep hanging on to all of our options in life. (emphasis mine)

That last sentence got to me because I see it in my life and how it has seeped into American culture in the last 20 years. There is this lie that tells me that I need to have options. Don't get me wrong. I like having options in some cases, like with food. But many times, I think my life would be so much more uncomplicated if I didn't have as many options. And in many cases, I wish for a burning bush to solve the dilemma of options, which the author so conveniently writes about next.

We are lots of times waiting for the burning bush, but if one is waiting for the burning bush it's not real consistent with something else Paul said that was pretty important. He said "we walk by faith and not by sight." So if we're supposed to be walking by faith and not by sight and that's what it means to really be a deeply committed Christian, that means He's usually not giving us a burning bush. If He is, there's no faith in that. Faith comes from having a pretty good sense of what God cares about and doing our best with the choices and then struggling with what that means. (emphasis mine)

So yes, I want to see a burning bush with many things, including marriage. Why? Because faith is hard and long and I want a shortcut to the finish line. But as noted above, "we walk by faith, not by sight." Faith is important to God. It is "more precious that gold" (1 Peter 1:7). Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is very important to God and if it's important to Him, then I need to make it important in my life. And there is reward for those with faith in God (Hebrews 11:6).

In closing, when I think about faith and burning bushes, I think God is changing my heart to desire faith more, which is the kindness and grace of God to me. Yes, the road of faith is narrow and hard, but the riches of faith are far better. How generous and loving of God to do all this work of faith in my heart and I receive the blessings! I am humbled..because it is far more than I deserve.

2 comments:

sweetly broken said...

Sara, Thank you for that quote. I don't know what "Boundless" is. Could you tell me? I, at times, battle indecisiveness, which I am sure stems from this idea of making a commitment (too many options, fear of making the WRONG choice...) I want to make the best possible decision (i.e. perfectionism) at all times. So usually, I end up waiting to make any decision (i.e.procrastination). Wow! I think there are at least three sinful responses going on there. Thank you for sharing this quote! K

Unknown said...

Kristin and others,

Boundless is an online webzine for Christians who are single.

Toodles!