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Put Off Doubt, Put on Faith

Put Off Doubt, Put on Faith

By Louise Makarious

Having faith sounds simple. It’s something we’re taught to do early on and as Christians we pledge in every liturgy to have faith in the Christian paradigm – that is, Christ’s resurrection and our salvation, with eternal life. If I believe in Christ, then I gain eternity, simple.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” – John 1:12

Personally, I have spent a lot of time trying to make logical sense of Christianity. How can Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection actually save us or how does the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ during each liturgy, and so on? These were typical questions of doubt, from a faith not yet fully grown. “We walk by faith, not by sight” – St Paul teaches us this in 2 Corinthians 5:7. It is not unusual to presume that faith is blind based on this verse. On the contrary, faith is to walk with spiritual eyes, and not our earthly vision. Doubt is warranted, and should be explored. If God did not want His children to question, He wouldn’t have given us free will.

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith is complete belief and trust without a seemingly logical explanation. Daniel was a great prophet that many could see God dwelling in his humble being. After presenting him with a series of visions that were interpreted by Gabriel, the messenger of the Lord, he was left with a final sentence – “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” – Daniel 12:9. Our doubts are not ignored by the Lord, He listens and He answers, but there will always be a limit to how much we can handle. Not even in the greatness of faith of Moses could He witness the glory of God. Ultimately, our God is incomprehensible, eternal and comparable to none and this is where our faith comes in.

God speaks to our hearts in our every day lives, pushing us along the path of salvation, but He is not the mighty wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire, but the still small voice (1 Kings 19:13). He will guide each of us along the path for as long as we are open to hearing His voice amid a world of tumult and tribulation. Through it all, we know that He is in control in ways we may not fully know, but we trust based on His providence to this date that He will leave us nor forsake us.

Slowly, I’ve learnt that having complete faith in God isn’t something of the head but of the heart. It does not require the struggle to try and comprehend Him, a power too divine for us to understand, but to trust in Him despite the unknown.

How can we practice faith in our everyday lives? Whenever we’re struggling with a dilemma, unsure of the future or going through a rough time, the most common advice we hear is to “have faith” or “God’s got a plan”. At the time, it usually seems like pretty useless advice, but what does it really mean to “have faith”? How can we trust in “God’s plan” for us, if we can’t see any plan that would relieve us from our problems or stressors? Again, doubt. Doubt often makes us feel alone in our problems and responsible to find our own solution, contributing anxiety and worry. Faith, on the other hand, means we are never alone and there is always a solution, even if we can’t see it.

One way for faith to practically change our lives everyday is by prayer. Psalm 138:3 says, “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul”. Making our worries and concerns known to God gives us inner strength that we will never experience turmoil alone. Like David, who had faith in God to help him defeat Goliath and deliver his people, we too can practice faith in situations that may seem unlikely or impossible to us. Faith allows us to act on what we have not yet experienced and trust in God’s plan when our situations seem hopeless.

With practice, faith becomes less of a vague, unreachable religious concept to a more practical, tangible and incredible experience everyday.

Shield of Faith

Armour of God: Part 3

By Ereeny Mikhail

Each day, when we wake up, we don’t know what to expect. As humans, we can’t predict the future and the reality is, life is never going to run smoothly. Life throws many obstacles, tribulations and trials. With this we are confronted with one question; what do I do in the face of war? St Paul, in Ephesians 6:13, instructs us to take up the ‘armour of God’. There are many parts of an armour made to protect each part of the human body. However, logically, the impact of an arrow or bullet will still do some damage to the body through an armour. Thus, an essential part of armour is a shield. The shield that St Paul instructs us to take up, as soldier’s in the battlefield that we call life, is the ‘shield of faith’ (Ephesians 6:16).

According to the Cambridge Dictionary the definition of the word shield is “something or someone used as protection.” To need protection, one must face an attack or tribulation. We face these every day, whether it be disease, spiritual warfare, or problems we face in our daily life. It is inevitable that we come face to face with a bullet or an arrow. But as we said, when a solider is faced with a bullet or arrow, they hold up their shield to prevent extreme impact. Our shield is our faith. Hebrews 11:1 says this about faith; “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We may not see God, but God is present in all things. We must have faith that He will protect us.

St Paul emphasises the importance of the ‘shield of faith’ by saying ‘above all’ we should take it up to conquer in battle. But again, I ask the question, what do I do in the face of war? When all seems lost, how do I hold up my Shield of Faith? Honestly, the answer is quite simple. It is the only way. There is no worldly solution. Things cannot be controlled by worldly means. Therefore, they need to be controlled by our faith in God. I say this with confidence from my own experiences.

I reflect on an experience I had a few years ago, during my years of studying Optometry. I was an organised student who downloaded all my assessment notifications at the beginning of semester. We had a group research assignment that my group had written up together. The assignment consisted of 2 portions to submit; the first was the main assignment and the second was signatures of all the group members saying they acknowledge that everyone did an equal amount of work. The semester before we also had a group assignment with the same 2 portions. That semester one person submitted the signatures on behalf of the group, but each group member had to submit the main assignment separately onto a portal. The notification for this semester also instructed us to do the same thing. So, I submitted the main assignment whilst a friend of mine submitted the document with the signatures. 2 weeks later all my friends got their result. My portal had 0% written next to the assignment. I was very confused considering I had done a huge chunk of the assignment for my group. Approaching my friends, I said it looks like there’s a glitch in my system. Then one of them pointed out that only one of us was supposed to submit the main assignment and everyone to submit the signatures document. I was sure we did the opposite the semester before and quickly, finding the notification of assessment document, I pointed out that it said the opposite as well. I went back to the place I downloaded it at the beginning of semester and to my dismay, this document had actually been updated but since I had downloaded it very early on it said I had already viewed this and didn’t notify me of updates. Additionally, the unit chair had written a status to tell us of this change which I missed as I was on placement and very tired that week. Very upset, I approached the unit chair, to ask her what had happened. She confirmed my suspicions. I misread it all.

Angrily, I went and drafted an email to challenge this. I didn’t think it was fair, seeing I had submitted the main assignment which is where all the marks were allocated, and seeing that I had provided my signature. I then went and spoke to my spiritual guide; someone I was quite close to who for most of my life provided me with wise spiritual advice; before I sent the email. They told me to plead with the lecturer persistently but with kind words. Thinking about this, I knew this was the right thing to do. Our faith teaches us, in Mathew 7:14, to enter from the ‘narrow gate’, “because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” It is easy to tell someone off, to be angry, to use harsh words but to be kind in the face of tribulation is holding up the Shield of Faith. King Solomon teaches us in Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” I rewrote my response to my lecturer again, this time approaching her with kind words. Again, she rejected my request. I reminded myself of what my spiritual advisor said. Be persistent. Perhaps, if I was like the ‘Persistent Widow’ in Luke 18:1-8; “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily,” she will be merciful. In the end, she still rejected my request. Defeated, I let it go.

A few years later I came to apply for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), where the cut off was based on the average marks throughout my Optometry degree. On calculating my mark, I noticed I was 0.075% below the cut off. I didn’t think much of it, thinking such a small percentage below the cut off was insignificant, until I asked my supervisors if I could round up my mark in my application. They looked at me blankly, telling me it was impossible for someone to get in below the cut off and the cut off was extremely strict. This was not like an undergraduate degree where some leniency is given. On hearing this, I broke down in tears. I said, “If only I had got that 5% in that assignment that my Optometry lecturer gave me 0%, I would have got in.” I drove home from work that day with tears in my eyes. It felt as though there was no hope. I went home and read the same gospel and Luke 18:27 says; “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Although I was told it was not possible, I chose to apply. With a small bit of faith, I carried on working for the next few months. Until one day an email popped up on my browser. I got accepted. The lesson I learnt, is in the face of a problem, I held up my Shield of Faith. I was kind, persistent and had faith. God, no matter, the arrows and bullets that attacked me, protected me and because I held up the Shield of Faith, he manifested His power and made the impossible, very possible. God fights for us.

I recall another experience where I learnt that the Shield of Faith was the only option. I met the Bishop of Kenya, Bishop Paul, at the age of 18, before I entered university. I remember being in awe of this man. Listening to his faith in times of tribulation was just amazing. He talked about how he went to communities affected by Ebola to pray for them and had faith that the Lord will protect him. He told us more amazing stories, and all I could think was, I want to go to Kenya. I want to learn from this man. I want to experience the work of God. With this in mind, 3 years later, a few months prior to finishing my Optometry degree I booked my flights. I finished my final exams and with a month to go, the anxiety kicked in. What if I get Malaria? What if I drink the water and get Cholera? What if I eat the food and get some random disease? I spent the whole month before flying to Kenya with these thoughts running through my mind. They built up so much to the point that I almost cancelled my flights. I then remembered the faith that Bishop Paul had in the face of Ebola and with that faith I decided to go. During my time there, I learnt that no matter what you fear; whether it be disease, or violence, you must face it with the Shield of Faith. Every time I ate, I signed the cross, and had faith nothing would happen. Every time I entered a place where I felt in danger, I prayed. ‘Above all’, I had faith that God is the one who protects us. God is our Shield.

I’d like to end with this note; no matter how difficult a situation is, no matter how afraid you are, and no matter what obstacle, tribulation or trial you are faced with, hold up your Shield of Faith. Love as Christ taught us, and Pray as Christ taught us. He will fight for you.

“He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.” – Psalm 18:16-18

Does God Care?

Does God Care?

By Demiana Salib

Does God really care about me – what coronavirus will do to my life? If coronavirus has put my education or career on hold? One answer to this would be no, salvation is what matters and for as long as I get there, it doesn’t matter how I got there. God only cares about my salvation, true? No, and this is the most insulting line of thought we, as humans, have ever conjured.

I have never really understood the parable of the unjust steward (Matthew 6:26-34) but the final message is nice – “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much,” so I’m generally happy to overlook the parable, but nothing our Lord said can be ignorantly overlooked.

Imagine a servant that devoted so much time and effort into the church. Anything that needed to be done, they could do, and in record time, too. But they would go home completely exhausted to the extent that they didn’t have time to pray. They did good, their actions were good, their intentions were good, but they didn’t have a personal relationship with God.

In unusual circumstances, their services began to be taken away from them. They had nothing left. In their distress, they consulted their father of confession;

“Why isn’t He letting me serve, and I know I need to pray, but I was doing good!”

Their father of confession replied, “He’s not letting you serve until you pray. He loves you very much and you need to see that first, spend this time in prayer.”

Could this servant be our modern day unjust steward? If I continually serve but do not pray, am I wasting my Master’s goods? When God asks me to give an account for my stewardship, how will I answer Him? Will it be, “God I spoke to you daily, you were a part of every aspect of my life.” Or will I struggle to even recognise Him?

Jesus spoke this parable to the Pharisees that judged Him for His love for sinners. For they knew the law, they knew how to appear before the people. They thought they could steal the Kingdom in the same way they fooled the people into believing that they were the most righteous of all men. With the recent closure of many churches worldwide, we are faced with a similar reality check. Is my relationship with God based on a fulfillment of commandments and services of the church, or is there more?

Our relationship with God runs so much deeper than set church services and just doing good. Our modern servant did good, but I can’t even guarantee that my outward display comes close to this. I read this parable and get lost at the unjust steward that went to his master’s debtors and told the one that owed 100 measures of oil to give back 50 and to the one that owed 100 measures of wheat to give back 80. This is not good, it’s deceitful and he’s not getting back what his master was owed. Why does the master commend his shrewdness? I feel like he was just digging his own hole deeper out of desperation.

Instead of reading this as an outsider, I need to read it as if I were the unjust steward. My church has been taken away and I need God, so I need to find another way to love and serve Him. For the unjust steward, the thought of his stewardship being taken away from him was the wake-up call he needed to work and act differently because he could not the face the loss. I will do whatever it takes to give back to my God what He is owed. If I can’t spend time with Him in church, I will try to make up for it at home, even if I think it will not measure up.

It is no longer a matter of, “Does God care?” but “God, I need You to care,” and He does; “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

If I think that God does not care about me, that is not a reflection of Him, but a reflection of me. While I am caught up in life, He is still caught up in me, if there is any consolation to coronavirus, it is the time it has forced me to spend with my Beloved. The ones that love you are the ones that gets excited by what makes you excited, the ones that are sad when you are sad, the ones that are happy when you are happy. How could you ever question that your loved ones cared about you? God is greater than these! If I go to work, come home – a standard day, but it is all I can offer in conversation, God wants to hear it, He wants to know how my day went, He cares about all the little things.

Whenever I have thought that God doesn’t care, I can’t recall ever asking Him honestly for His opinion. If my prayers are surrounded on one external factor, He will respond kindly; “My grace is sufficient for you, do not worry.” If it causes sadness, grief, anguish, distress, then He will shift my focus to the eternal. If I want Him just as Saviour from this world that causes me pain, then I won’t see His concern for the little things.

But God starts small, He is faithful in the little, if you want Him as Father, Friend, Biggest Fan, He will be all those things, too. He loves you with an everlasting love and will do anything to have a meaningful relationship with you.

Once we have daily and meaningful conversation with Him, everything is in His Hands without question. And then we can truly say when faced with this larger scale pandemic, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.” There may be so many things that are taken away from us, but we will do whatever it takes to keep building our relationship with God and serving those in need. We can’t have big answers to big questions if we don’t start small, start now, even if you feel there is no relationship and you’re starting out of the desperation. He does care and He will continue to work overtime until we see it. To any doubt that God cares about what is happening to our world, He responds,

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you.

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands

– Isaiah 49:15-16.

Walking by Faith

Walking by Faith: A Contemplation on the Man Born Blind

Transcribed sermon by Marc Bastawrous

Passage: John 9:1-38

When we read the story of the man born blind, we notice that Christ does something unusual compared to His other miracles. He puts the healing in the hands of the healed. He doesn’t immediately restore his sight, but asks the man born blind to go and wash in the pool of Siloam.

What is noteworthy in Christ’s words is that at no point did He say, “wash and you will be healed.” There were no guarantees made. In this moment, Christ had picked up some mud, threw it in the man’s face and told him to walk through the town, past all the townspeople, to wash his face for no suspected purpose except to get the mud off his face. The pool was outside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem, approximately 2 km away from where the temple was thought to be. It would take the average person 15 minutes to walk this distance, not to mention he had to navigate through the city without being able to see where he was going.

How would you feel if you were the blind man in this situation? You had sat at the temple for most of your life, you were ignored by the people, you were judged sinner by those that didn’t know you. But then, you hear a Man. You hear a Man say to His disciples, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). What does this mean? Who is this Man, and could He be the One that you have waited your entire life to hear? This quite possibly could’ve sparked a small glimmer of hope that he would be just like everyone else, that there was hope that he would be able to see.

Alternatively, he could have been at a point where he had lost hope entirely. He had lived his entire life sitting outside the temple, being ignore and judge by the most religious people. At the words of Christ, he could’ve thought to himself, “please don’t. Don’t give me false. Just leave some money and be on your way.”

Still, Jesus draws near to him. To which the blind man may still be wondering if He would mock him. Jesus comes to him and spits on the ground before him. At this point, his heart would have sunk – another mocker. He could’ve been at his lowest and thought, “Ideserve this. I deserve to be shamed. But just leave me alone.”

Jesus takes one step closer and picks up the mud and anoints his eyes. Imagine the heartache he would’ve felt. He would’ve felt like Christ was making fun of him. In case people didn’t realise he didn’t have eyes, he now had mud where his eyes should be.

After all this, our Lord makes a request. “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:7). I can only imagine what I would have done in this man’s shoes. A beggar that had endured abuse, humiliation and was then told to walk a considerate distance with mud on his face so he could wash with no indication as to what would happen after he washed. It makes sense in hindsight that he would wash and receive his sight, but in the moment, he had no idea.

Something compelled him to walk through the crowds and get out of the city. All logic would have told him to stay where he was and avoid further humiliation. This man thought, “even if I can’t see, I will walk.” He probably tripped a few times along the way but he continued, for he had a goal. You can imagine as he bumped into the crowds, there would have been people that yelled abuse and told him to watch where he was going, yet he continued. He blocked out the noise of the world and remained on the path the Lord had paved. He could’ve stayed at the temple where he was comfortable. But where there is no risk, there is little reward, and had the man born blind man not chosen to take the risk, his story would not have been remembered for generations to come. Despite how the people saw him, there was something in him that knew he wasn’t the product of his parents’ sin; he was fearfully and wonderfully made and the glory of God was about to be revealed in him.

When he finally arrived to Siloam, he would have been tired, bruised even. Logic would tell him that washing his face would only get the mud off. Yet he washed and hoped. In our own lives, there are oftentimes that we cannot see, but we strive to imitate the man born blind, to wash and hope. When we cannot see, logic tells us to grumble, complain and become frustrated. We lose sight of the fact that God is in complete control.

In despair, we say to our Creator;

“Why are you letting me suffer? Why are you putting me through all this pain and anguish and hurt? Why couldn’t you just leave me where I was comfortable?”

I don’t always need to see the road ahead because the One I walk is the Creator of all. The story of Job explains this same concept in the most profound way. Job went through tribulation, unlike anyone has ever seen. He lost his children, his livestock, his wealth and his servants and was left with nothing. Through his suffering, he never cursed God. After 38 chapters of agony, he finally questions God and why He would allow him to suffer and why He would allow his closest friends to think that God was punishing him. God finally responds, but He doesn’t answer Job’s questions but instead asks some of His own.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”(Job 38:4)

Had Job not been through enough? Is God not meant to heal him at this point, alleviate all his pains? But it was through God’s rebuke that Job was able to say, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5).

Job had heard of God’s comfort before, but it was through his deepest despair that he felt God and he could see that He was sufficient for all his needs. This is what sustains us during times of suffering and it is through our suffering that we are given revelation of God, for it is enough to see Him.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). To truly exemplify this verse, we cannot look past the man born blind as he stumbled to the pool, being led by faith alone. We can only pray that on our own spiritual journeys, we can continue to walk, even when we cannot see. No matter the tribulation, we keep walking along the path, knowing that God is our eyes. If we hold on to our faith, no tribulation can take it away. This is our strength in all difficulties alike.

Faith is the one thing we can hold on to in this life. No matter what happens in my life, no matter what is taken away from me, if I walk by faith, nothing can harm me. All of it can be used as a catalyst to strengthen my faith. When I stop doubting and remember that my resting place is in the palms of the hands of the Maker of Heaven and Earth, nothing in this world can move me. Even though we cannot see, we are called to walk by faith and look for the glory of God at each new day.

Find your Moment

Find your Moment

Transcribed sermon by Fr Daniel Fanous

Passage: Luke 1:5-20

Zechariah was an interesting figure. Our Lord Christ at another point in the gospel mentions somebody by the name of Zechariah the son of Berekiah who was murdered between the horns of the altar and the temple (Matthew 23:35). This was somebody that was murdered literally as he was holding onto the altar.

Origen, one of the early church fathers said that perhaps this was Zechariah of our story today. It is theorised that when Herod went to kill all the infants under the age of two, Zechariah was unwilling to give up his son, John the Baptist and so instead, Herod had him murdered between the temple and the alter.

But what is the story of his son?

Zechariah was a priest of the Aaronic priesthood. The Aaronic priests were the descendants of Aaron. For almost a thousand years, there was a generational priesthood. No one became priest unless they were part of this specific family, there were no other ways into the priesthood.

Over this period of time, every son that was born into this family became a priest so over the course of thousands of years, there would have been thousands of priests. The worship in Israel was very different to how it is now, there weren’t multiple churches or synagogues, there was only one temple in Jerusalem and so, there wasn’t enough room for the priests to perform the sacrifices.

They divided them into 24 orders, each order would take one week a year. Then each order would take one week and of the seven days of the week, there would still be hundreds of priests allocated to a certain day. They would then cast lots to determine which priests were worthy of praying on that day. This meant that offering incense was a once in a lifetime gift. On this day, Zechariah was given his moment.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were both, “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). BUT they were barren. They were unable to have children. Their infertility had nothing to do with their sin as they was wrongly inferred by the people.

It is one of the most painful things to see someone that cannot have a child. It’s easy then to think that any kind of barrenness, whether physical emotional or spiritual, is a punishment of some kind. But here we see that it wasn’t, instead, it was part of God’s plan.

This is not to say that anyone who is barren will eventually have a child. But regardless God still has a plan. His plan may not be our plan, but He always has a plan. Any kind of failure or barrenness, whatever the cause, was always part of God’s plan, but only if we hold on to God.

When we look back to Zechariah, he was well advanced in years, well beyond the time of children, while his wife was postmenopausal. For many years, they tried for a child, they laid their lives before God walking blamelessly and obeying the commandments. At their age, there was no hope left to hold on to. The much easier scenario would have been to walk away from the God that seemingly ignored their prayers.

It would have been extremely easy for them to think that God doesn’t exist. He didn’t stick to their plan and He didn’t give them the desires of their heart. After this suffering that lasted many years, after this total loss of hope, Zechariah’s moment came.

His lot came, after he had lost all hope and thought there was no chance of conceiving a child. His lot was taken and his once in lifetime chance came for him to go to Jerusalem to worship. Zechariah lived Hebron; Hebron is about 30 kilometres south of Jerusalem. Roughly the distance between Cronulla to the middle of Sydney CBD.

Zechariah could have easily thought in this moment, what is the point? He served his entire life, yet his one request was not answered by God. Instead, he took his moment. Each one of us in our lives will have a series of moments. Some quiet moments, some very subtle moments, some of them very, very dramatic moments. God at certain points in our lives will reach into our lives and touch us. Sometimes when we expect other times when we don’t expect it.

Perhaps then like Zechariah, God has left us barren. Our lives have not gone according to our plans. But still God reaches out and touches us. And in these moments, we must respond. It may be simply an awakening to sin – a realisation of something I have done, something I’m doing is afflicting me and obstructing my spiritual life. It may be a gentle niggling feeling that I’ve been avoiding confession. It may be a moment of inexplicable joy that I received joy that God touches my heart during prayer or when I listen to a word or when I’m in church.

It may be an awareness that something is far greater than me. It may be an overwhelming sense that God wants me to do something. When you feel these moments, your lot has been cast. Your moment has come. How then do we react to these moments?

Do we ignore? Do we push it? Do we continue to distract ourselves so we don’t hear it? We must understand these are our moments.

We must discern these moments and cease them before they pass. There was a lady that came who had left the church for a long time that came for a baptism. After the baptism she to me to say goodbye. And as she came up to me, she tried to rush away from me and she began to cry.

I said, “are you alright?”

She replied, “No, no, it’s just something in my eye.”

I said, “Okay, that’s fine, something always goes in my eyes as well.”

And then she left. I messaged her after and I said to her, “There wasn’t something in your eye, is everything alright?”

She replied, “Sometimes whatever happens in church, I just miss it. And I thought you know; this is the chance. This is the chance.”

She didn’t come to church and I didn’t see her there again, but she had a moment. She walked into church and she felt something deeply touched her, but she ignored it. Her moment came, and we can only pray that God gives her many more moments.

The opposite scenario presented itself when I met a young monk in Egypt. He told me that he never entered a church his entire life. He had nothing to do with church, but that wasn’t because he had anything against God, he just didn’t know Him, and was never exposed to church.

One day, a friend of his invited him to play soccer, and the soccer field happened to be in the field of the church. As he walked into the church’s gates thinking only of soccer, a priest walked past him and the priest must’ve mistaken him for someone else, walked to him and said, “I have missed you so much,” and gave him a big hug. In that moment, he began to cry, and he didn’t know why. He said that in that moment it was the first time he felt he had a father. That was all it took, and from then on, he attended every church service for a year and then entered the monastery.

St Anthony the Great heard one verse – “If you would be perfect, give up all you have and follow Me,” and that was enough. He paid attention to his moment. He left and became the greatest monk of the church.

Zechariah had more reason than all of us to ignore his moment. He was a priest, he was blameless, he walked righteously, he obeyed the commandments, and yet for 40 years his prayer was ignored. Despite all logic, he walked 30 kilometres across hill country to Jerusalem, where unbeknown to him, he would receive his moment.

He drew near to God, and God drew near to him, as He revealed His plans that Elizabeth’s barrenness was only for a period to prepare the way for the birth of John the Baptist. While this is not God’s plan for everybody, God always has a plan. He has a plan for you and me, but in the right moment.

Zechariah almost missed his moment, but the nine months of muteness that followed was almost God’s way of forcing him to reflect upon this moment. God wanted him to discern, to stop, to think, to reflect, to perceive the gravity of that moment. When your moment comes, don’t ignore it, but come to God so that He may move your heart.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness

by Meray Shehata

Yesterday I walked on water, but today I held Peter’s hand as we both started to drown.

Yesterday I slaughtered the lion, but today I cowered next to Samson as we betrayed You.

Yesterday I watched as Goliath fell, but today nothing could have prepared me for how low I was willing to sink for worldly things.

Yesterday I stood solemnly in my place not willing to budge as You threw blow after blow at me, but today I denied You to lessen my own pain.

Yesterday I wiped Your face with my veil, but today I stabbed You with my spear.

Lord, why do I sometimes accept You when you give me riches but discard You when I have plenty, only to cry out again when the riches have drowned me? I’ve grown to expect the world at my feet but when I have achieved the impossible I lose sight of You in all my success. I declared with all Your people to have brought myselfout of Egypt and then, as if to boost my own ego, I built a golden calf to praise.

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matt. 14:31)

I have no reason to doubt, I sat with Job as I lost everything but I was also there when my riches all multiplied. Our lungs filled up with water as we drowned but I was there when you took our hand and pulled us out of the water. They cut my hair and reduced me to not even a third of the man I was but You gave me strength to abolish their temple. I killed a man but my name is remembered honourably until now.

What is this faith that people speak so highly of?

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).

It’s a concept so beautiful, yet so hard to attain. Although I can provide one million reasons for you to have faith, it’s still a constant battle. When tribulation comes knocking, doubt follows soon after. Sadly, doubt doesn’t like announcing itself as it enters your mind. This uncertainty is much more sly and tends to build up over time, masked by stress or anxiety. Sometimes losing faith is not as simple or clear cut as discontinuing your belief in God but rather a growing distance between God and yourself, when all your mind really yearns for is His embrace. Oftentimes, it seems that the answer is so far away from the truth. If only you get a bit of fresh air, a change of scenery, watch a movie? Then you’ll feel better. Of course, that may work short term as it does for me, but frequently I find myself right where I started if not worse, until I seek Him again.

I tend to see Job as a pillar of faith. How does one man stand to watch everything but his life waste away yet return and pray, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”(Job 1:21). God knew the depth of his faith and when Job hesitated even for a second, God responded in a whirlwind saying, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.”(Job 38:4).

Although our tribulations sometimes are not as clear as it was for those who came before us and Christ may not appear to pull you out of the water, there is only one solution. Faith. If you knew the plans He had for you, you would stick by Him through it all, but if a faith is never tested, where would it come from? If we are aiming to be filled with virtue and have faith like Job, we need to remember this always. Ask yourself, where were you when He engraved you on the palm of His Hand? Where were you when He made you fearfully and wonderfully in His image? God doesn’t just have a plan for your life, He has the greatest plan. Do not walk begrudgingly through trials and do not assume you’re doing Him a favour when you turn to Him as times get tough.

Remember Job, remember Joseph, remember Moses, remember Esther, remember Abraham and all the characters throughout the Bible and the history of our church. God’s love is magnificent and if you allow Him, He will work in you as He worked in them. Praise Him through the storm and you will not only receive blessings of grace, but your faith will be refined. “Man plans his path, but God direct his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9). Let Him be your guidance. When all we want is to stand on our own two feet, God is placing obstacles along the way to make us soar like eagles.