The Burden of Faith

Transition seems to be a common theme of a lot of the posts here lately. My own ministry/job and location have changed dramatically since I last posted. I’m writing from my new office in Santa Rosa, California. I’m missing friends in Tulsa, and I’m making new ones here. I just spent a few hours unpacking my books and going over music for Sunday. Earlier today I went to the Apple Store and picked up my new work computer! People here have been wonderful and welcoming, inviting me to family gatherings and dinners and out to concerts and fireworks and wine tasting (this is Sonoma County, after all).

But it’s not all easy and fun. For the first time in my life, I’ve moved without my family. My wife and four kids are back in Tulsa, waiting for our house to sell before they join me here. We have no idea when they’ll be able to move. It’s a very strange, disorienting feeling. I keep thinking I’m just visiting and will be heading back to Tulsa in a few days.

On Sunday, our team is doing a song by Andrew Peterson called “No More Faith.” I remember hearing it years ago and really liking it, but I didn’t really listen to the words. Now, as I read them again, they have special meaning. Faith and hope are difficult… and they will fade away. In the end, when we are face to face with Jesus, we will have no more need for faith and hope. Only love will remain.I know I’m not the first man to go ahead of his family into a new job situation. I have many friends who have experienced this very thing. We’ll be just fine in the long run, but for this season, it’s challenging. And so, for today, I lean on faith and hope. Faith that God has called us, that He will supply our needs, that there are lessons to be learned in hardship, that separation can cause relationships to grow stronger, more resilient. And… that our house will sell quickly, that all the details will work out smoothly, that we will make wise decisions about schools, housing and all the rest of the things that go along with a cross-country move.

I can’t embed YouTube videos here, but click on through and give the song a listen. Maybe as you go through today’s challenges, whatever they may be, you can look forward to the Day when we will, by God’s grace, lay down faith and hope and revel in the abiding love of our God.

No More Faith – Andrew Peterson (c) 2001 New Spring Music

This is not another song about the mountains