Category: Pastor’s Thoughts

  • Faith: and the reality of doubt

    Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

    – Hebrews 11:1

    The idea of faith is pretty abstract when you think about it. Faith is defined as complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Complete, as in total, full, outright. However, within our human nature, doubt seems to always exist to some degree. Always lurking around, whispering, trying to get our attention and distracting us. As a result, there exists a tug of war between faith and doubt. And to make things even more confusing, every unique situation we find ourselves in seems to either strengthen our faith or reinforce our doubt. As a result, either our faith or our doubt gains ground in this tug of war. 

    This makes sense from a world’s perspective. Everyone places faith in certain areas, situations or people and conversely everyone has a measure of doubt in certain areas, situations or people. The main factor here is drawn from our experiences and other people’s advice, encouragement or pessimism. 

    So where does this faith/doubt complex leave the believer? We are deceiving ourselves if we say we never experience times of doubt in our walk. But remember the tug of war always going on within us? As long as our doubt never wins out over our faith, God can always work with that.

    And when He does, our faith is exercised while trusting Him. Exercise or usage always produces strength. When our faith is stronger (when it is made strong through our adherence to Christ), it has a greater potential and ability to overpower our doubt. 

    Hebrews 11:1 testifies that we do not need to find faith in ourselves or in the things of this world. Because really, we can find doubt and fault in both these areas. But when we place our faith in God or should I say, when His faithfulness becomes the foundation of our faith, the very hope that is within us changes. Faith in God creates an unfair tug of war in that doubt is not an attribute of God.

    Our source of true faith should only be found in the Lord. Might we still experience doubt? Sure. But in these situations we have an important opportunity to put our complete trust and confidence in God. As a result, we show our doubt where our faith comes from and in doing so we are strengthened.

    Jason Metz, lead Pastor

  • Tired of Waiting? Isaiah 40:31’s Real Meaning

    But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

    -Isaiah 40:31

    The Watched Pot and the Impatience of Prayer 

    As I was draining the baptismal, it just seemed like it was taking forever. The pump was running and I know it was moving the water, but come on already. The more I watched it, the slower it seemed to drain. Then I remembered the old adage, a watched pot never boils. Especially when you have a craving for some spaghetti.

    The Holy Spirit then prompted me to think about prayer. Specifically the petition or asking God part of prayer. We all know we are to ask God to work in our lives. We know we are to ask in faith. We know we are to ask in accordance with the Father’s will. We also know God listens to our prayers, our praise, our petitions. We know all these things, but a watched pot never boils.

    The essence of this adage testifies to our impatience. I bet you have noticed that time seems to slow down, even virtually coming to a stand still when we are anxiously waiting for something to happen.

    Our “Now” Mentality and God’s Perfect Timing

    We live in a smartphone and microwave world. We expect our phone calls and texts to be answered immediately, right away, we need answers now! As for our food, well it needs to be ready in under 60 seconds. The world moves fast and it’s easy to get caught up in our expectations. Hurry up and boil, hurry up and drain, hurry up and turn green, hurry up and answer.

    Too often this translates to our expectations about God. We need a word, an answer, action, confirmation or clarification. We need it and we need it now.

    Come on God, I’m counting on You. 

    Why isn’t He speaking?

    Did He forget about me?

    What’s taking Him so long?

    And just like that, we look for answers, action, confirmation or clarification somewhere else.

    Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before. We all have. The issue is not having confidence in the Lord, the problem is our patience. Because we want what we want and we want it right now. Unfortunately (or fortunately) God is not subject to our schedule or agenda. I for one thank God He isn’t. Can you imagine the mess we would get ourselves into? Our impatience is usually the greatest enemy to what God wants to accomplish in us.

    The Value of Waiting: Finding God’s Strength and Wisdom

    The timing of God is a concept that is overlooked far too often. But when we seek His unlimited and perfect timing, we position ourselves to wait on the Lord. And in those times of waiting, God can accomplish so much in us.

    There is always a great value in retrospect. Looking back allows us to see the intricacies, all the little things and the timing that God put together. Not in my timing or expectation, but within His wisdom and His will.

    Jason Metz, lead Pastor