Why Doubt? Jesus Is Here!

One of the great tasks of our life is to be strong enough to follow our God centered heart when we feel like doing so may not be enough to get us where we want to be. I like the stories that tell of how those who were once chastised or made fun of for following their heart and doing what they felt was their calling, and following the path that gave them purpose in their life; who ended up overcoming those early days of emotional trauma and seemingly doomed journeys to finally achieve their life’s goal. In the end, they were fine with how it turned out, hard knocks and all.

However, many of those stories do not describe in detail how the main characters dealt with the spiraling depression or show the brokenness in ways that many of us have experienced when we have attempted to go with our God centered hearts in life. To go the way that God is leading us and not get frightened off that path because it seems too risky, not practical, unproven, and not lucrative enough to seriously attempt. It can be a very scary and often painful undertaking.

It is not an easy choice to make, to go with your heart’s desire, according to God. Especially, when you may have jumped off that course too soon previously when you thought that you were sinking and would not make it to your goal. It was a collapse of faith and an embarrassment in not fulfilling God’s promise for you. You may have tried something else that you have had success in, but it is not the path that you felt God was leading you to complete. How will you go forward from here? Will you be held down by your fears or be buoyed by your faith?

If you read Sunday’s Bible reading from Matthew 14:22-33, you will find a story of faith versus fear, the results of choosing whether to be safe or risk following the leading of their heart that Jesus’ disciples were faced with in a very dramatic way. How does it speak to you?