Faithful In The Fog

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Week In Review: This probably seems odd, but as I look over this week's readings...and my personal reflections...the two things that stick in my mind is being faithful in community even when we don't fully know either the final destination or the motivations of people. This is much more difficult than it actually may seem. As a disciple, I am called not to live my faith in isolation, but rather as a part of a believing community. While this brings great resourced and support, it also comes with certain challenges. First, it means that I need to be involved in discerning not just God's will for my life, but the direction that God is leading my faith community. When this is done, then I need to be faithful to moving with that community...in the direction that community is moving...even though I may not fully understand why we are moving in that direction or the full motivations of all those within my faith community.

Now, this is not the same as being naive or passive in just going with the flow. It means that I must be relationally engaged with those within my community. I need to be praying individually and with my brothers and sisters in Christ to discern the direction God is leading us. It means that I need to express what I believe the Lord is speaking to me, while at the same time listening to what the Lord is communicating to others in my community. It means putting all of this together to hear God's voice and then respond in a supportive way to move forward with that faith community. As we do this, we grow vertically closer to God and horizontally closer to each other while we follow the Lord's will as best we understand it, always recognizing that at some level all the details and destinations may not be fully revealed. In this way, we move forward together, walking in faith, ever listening to the Lord and each other. As we are faithful in the fog, we will learn to trust God with the details as we move forward as He directs. This is not the easiest way to live, but it is the way God has given us...to be a faithful community who follows Jesus even when we don't fully understand every detail of the journey.