Some people call these interventions.

Some people refer to them as "come to Jesus meetings".

You could label this as "honesty hour" or being "real".

I vote we call this a double shot of honesty.

2016 was rough.

2016 was a natural desisted that knocked a lot of people back and made us reconsider a few things.

Some people lost their favorite celebrity.

Some people lost homes, jobs, family, retirements, and maybe confidence even confidence in humanity.

And I'd be willing to wager that perhaps one of the most asked questions this year was some form of "how could a good God let this happen?"

Sometimes it feels like you're living the modern version of Job's life, when everything seems to be falling away and you have no control over it.

I don't have a seminary degree.

I don't understand every aspect of theology.

And I certainly don't have God figured out.

But I have a story.

Sometimes I don't like to talk about it or tell it because I want to make people happier- brighten their day.

I'm also a bit self conscious about talking too much about myself.

But what follows has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Yahweh.

Faith isn't a feeling.

If there's anything 2016 can teach us, that's it.

We're going to feel a very broad range or emotions in our lifetimes, and half the time we won't even understand them.

Faith isn't one of them.

Faith is a fact.

And that's how we believe in God when we can't feel Him.

I didn't feel God when I made the decision to move out.

I didn't feel God when I wasn't good enough for the guys(s, if we're being honest) I wanted.

I didn't feel God when I couldn't find a calling in life and plunged into depression.

I didn't feel God when I turned to alcohol just to have something I thought I controlled in my life.

I didn't feel God the first morning I woke up after my brother died.

I didn't feel God when some of my best friends disappeared when I needed them most.

I didn't feel God when my Grandmother passed away and I thought I couldn't stand any more loss.

I didn't feel God- I KNEW God.

I felt hurt, despair, brokenness, anger, confusion, and fear.

But I KNEW that this God that I trusted was still good, still real, and still fully in control.

I've just spent the better part if the week studying how to defend Him and prove He's true.

And there were moments when professors recounted deep agony or referenced pain, and I probably should've cried.

But I didn't.

The reality of how real and powerful God is didn't cause my heart to flutter, the proof settled deep into my soul and I know.

I've been still and now I know.

You can take it all away, but the reality of God can never be chipped, faded, or altered.

He is big enough for 2017, so what have we to fear?