Who else feels like they are drowning?
The Church has failed. It has failed to address hard subjects effectively. Homosexuality, racial tension, political corruption have all been answered poorly or disregarded altogether. There is a lack of diversity and creative expression in the Church. There is a lack of justice in the Church--the minority goes unheard.
At the same time, people feel stagnant in their personal walk of faith. It doesn’t feel like God is actively working in our world. All too often God is silent when answers are needed. Works seem to have stopped accompanying faith, or at least the works we are desperate for. Young Christians are often being called naive and left with little-to-no authority in Church function. There is a constant lack of willing volunteers. Churches are fighting with one another. Everyone is calling for hell-fire, rapture, redemption and help.
Yet, the people of my generation are being left answerless.
Maybe you’re feeling burned out. Maybe you’re feeling empty. Maybe you feel like God’s not listening. I have good news: There is hope.
Why can we have hope? Well, Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians 15. He said without a resurrection our faith is meaningless, but the reality is Christ did rise, therefore we can have hope in His will for us.
We can have hope because of John 3:17: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” The reality is Jesus is not coming back for the sole purpose of judgement (though judgement will happen), but rather with one purpose: to redeem the world.
We can have hope in the future because we know that this world will no longer exist, and that God is going to make a new world where suffering, pain, and destruction will have no place (Revelation 21).
We can have hope in the now because God loves us (there are too many great passages to reference for this thought). The Old Testament is a story of God loving the nation of Israel so much that He would have mercy on them no matter what they did to turn their backs on Him. The New Testament is a story of God loving the world and its people so much that He would die for the sake of its redemption.
God is so big. He is much bigger than any traditionalism. He is much bigger than racism. He is much bigger than those who ignore others. He is bigger than temptation, struggle, and addiction. He is bigger than the burnt out feeling you may have. He is bigger than our failures. He is bigger than our struggles. He is bigger than the world, bigger than Satan, and bigger than death. He is a conqueror and will defeat all things that oppose His will.
And here is the best part: Though you may be the smallest thing, a mustard seed in the confines of time, He still loves you with His big heart as much as anything else.
When Christ died, the world shook and the veil was torn and the bodies of people came to life and God mourned the death of His son. It is overwhelming to think that God loves you just as much as He loved His own son.
So the next time that you feel just done with the Church, with others, or with God, just remember something: He loves you enough and has all the power to make this world how it is supposed to be someday. He will not forget about you, nor compromise you. He will love you, provide for you, hurt with you, and be present with you at all times even when it may not feel like He is.
