The Beauty of Faith

At 2:57 this morning, I received a message from one of my best friends-who has been helping me cope with many of the demons I've been struggling with in my life.
His bout of inspiration brought upon words, that I desperately needed to hear-over something I can always comprehend-but have trouble applying to my life.
But I think all humans do.

Endlessly, we battle with the things we can not change in this life. We focus on yesterday, and the patterns that led up to our current catastrophes, or we habitually preoccupy our time with fears about tomorrow.
As Tim put it last night-after the endless 'What am I going to do now?' questions that I've posed over the last few months:
"I guess in the end though it really isn't up to us.
Sure we can make a ripple in the stream but the water
will continue on its way, not even slowing to acknowledge
the disturbance. As a pebble makes a ripple in the stream,
so too can we make waves in the sea of fate, but as all things waves too must
eventually come to an end."

It's like ECCLESIASTES 3:1-8 guarantees; there is a season for everything under heaven-a time for all things...and all things must end. But in endings, sprouts a new life that we must allow to take place...as said in Isaiah 43:18-19.
We have no control over where the ripples that we make in time end up. We can manipulate the sea-but in the end...it is still the sea; and we have no control.

We are terrified by that, but it is, without a doubt the most beautiful thing about this life. God put us here to teach us to have blind faith in him. And we become frustrated when we find no certainties in tomorrow-we get angry when our plans for our life fail. But the TRUTH IS-certainty would be incredibly painful.
With certainty comes the elimination of fear, yes-but also the elimination of faith. With certainty-the sweetness to savor in this life would be gone. Dreams would be obsolete-ambition, would be pointless, hope would have no meaning, the thrill of rising from disappointment; would never occur, pain would not exist-therefore bliss and euphoria would be unheard of.

The thing that we are the most irritated by-the thing we fear the most, the thing we spend every second of our day fighting is the thing that gives our lives purpose-the thing that shapes who we are...the thing that separates the brave from the cowardice-the thing that gives us individuality, beauty, and hope for tomorrow.

Without the challenge of uncertainty-we are less human-and with that thought stems my belief, that pain should be celebrated; because for one thing, in suffering we are the most blessed-because God carries us...but ALSO because pain is one of the glorious reminders that we have no control-and in that lack of control; is the miracle of the mystery of this universe.