Life is complex. Problems multiply. Questions go without answers. Who has not come to that moment when it is overwhelming that a kind of mental paralysis sets in, thinking is hard, decisions are pushed aside. Or, worse, people turn reactionary, lashing out in anger, blaming others, and crippling themselves by choosing some ill-informed, short-sighted ‘answer.’  In those seasons I like to joke that I want to find a cabin on a mountain far away and retreat from it all. I never have exercised that option!

Russell Moore writes of his own experience in the Christian church. “If one looked just under the surface, one could see some awful things: bigotry, cruelty, immorality, injustice. And he started to wonder, “What if what I’ve banked my entire life on—my entire eternity ahead—just isn’t true? What then?”

In such times, I like to ‘go back to basics’ reviewing those foundational truths on which my life rests. It does not replace the need to think deeply, nor do those basic answers resolve every question. However, I do find solid footing, anchor points that keep me steady, a course that moves in the right direction.

What are the basics of my life?

God loves!
Situations develop that obscure that fact sometimes. When a plane hits the ground like a dart in Florida killing everyone on board, an arrow of doubt pierces my heart! When cancer takes another young friend despite my prayers, God seems distant and uncaring! When the culture in which I live spins crazily out of control, the issue of God’s care and guidance get a bit shaky in my mind!

I go back to the Word where I learn that “We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16, NIV) He is not ‘out to get me’ nor is He without compassion. In fact, “because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”  (Lamentations 3:22-24, NIV)

Jesus saves!
Don’t ridicule that little phrase. It is truth. Because of Jesus and the Cross there is NO reason to hide, to live with shame, to exist in the misery of guilt, or to be afraid to go boldly to prayer. When we fail to obey fully, as we all do, the Tempter whispers to us that we cannot pray, that we are outside of God’s care and love.

The Word makes it clear that we are not! “He (Jesus) has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.” (Colossians 1:22-23, NLT)

The Holy Spirit is present!
When I ask “Is God seeing? Is He here and near?” I feel orphaned and alone. All the complex theology that surrounds my faith becomes nearly meaningless in those moments. Like a child, I need my Father’s Presence near. And, He is.

Christianity that is just a systematic theology, neatly arranged in logical order, cannot be all we know. I make no argument for silly ideas or platitudes. Lord knows that modern Christians need to know more theology, able to ‘give an answer to those who ask the reason for their hope.”

Yet this I know – the heart and mind are both critical to the practice of our devotion. Paul says, “I want to know Christ!” Not just about Him, but to know Him, walk with Him, and pray with genuine faith to Him as the Intercessor and Advocate at the Father’s right hand.

Wesley spoke of a moment when his faith was stirred and his heart was ‘strangely warmed.’  These are those moments of mystery possible for each of us. Perhaps it is when we look at the night sky and feel small yet full of wonder. Maybe it’s during a worship gathering when we find our emotions shaken loose and our joy overflows in silent tears. Perhaps it is when we hold a newborn baby in a moment of amazement. Perhaps it is at the bedside of one who is dying when we sense both the frailty of our existence and the profound assurance that there is ‘more beyond.’

Jesus says “The Father … will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17, NIV)

Heaven awaits!
I suppose it comes with being an elder, now 71, but Heaven has taken on new meaning in my life. The certainty of death is no longer avoidable as it once was. Too many friends and family members have left this world for me to feel completely ‘at home’ here anymore.

I need to reaffirm the fact of Eternity and fix my hopes on the home prepared for me by my Father. Oh no, this does not mean that I stop living or that escape every present difficulty with an exclusive focus on the world to come. Our high calling is the ‘Kingdom come’ here on earth, the mission of bringing the message that sinners can become saints, that evil must be resisted, and that justice must be established remains primary.

But, on there on life’s horizon, which is much closer for me now, there is that promise that pulls me onward and upward.

I turn often to the Word to read this – “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies. Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, NLT)

Are you overwhelmed, confused, struggling with faith? Perhaps it’s time to review the basics –
God Loves!
Jesus Saves!
The Spirit is Present!
Heaven Awaits!

And, then move forward, with that firm foundation for faith in place.

Amen

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55