05/22/2026
God is our creator, and following the fall of Adam and Eve from grace in the Garden of Eden He has worked out the means of our redemption, and our salvation. His Son Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, but wasn’t it God’s will that sent Him there? Since His crucifixion have we picked up our own crosses to follow Him? Do we do this because we believe or are we still waiting on God to say “come”? Believing becomes much easier once we realize that God formed us, provided us with a means of salvation, and that we will be living in His presence for eternity. But do we know who He is, or do we simply have faith and believe in Him like we would an unknown philanthropist or a mysterious benefactor?
“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.”
Psalms 62:1 ESV
I once heard a humorous saying that is quite widespread; as a matter of fact, it is said in many countries, and by many cultural groups, so I honestly can’t remember the first time I heard it. This is dark humor, but is something a father would say to a disobedient child. It goes like this: “I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it; and replace you with another one just like you!” Thank goodness our Heavenly Father doesn’t feel this way about us, but He did create us, and sometimes we wonder why He tolerated our disobedience in Eden. We wonder why he doesn’t just erase the chalkboard on which he drew us... and begin anew. Perhaps in the story of Noah’s Arc, He came close, but there are some who justify His tolerance by convincing themselves that He has left us alone and must have just walked away from His creation… but His love for us will not allow Him to do that.
“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
Hebrews 11:3 ESV
I have often heard people say that God created Adam and Eve, but I can tell from the rest of their conversation that they seem to believe that He only did so that once, only to start the pendulum swinging so that from then on the job was turned over to nature. They have a biological mother and father that they know and love, and then something called a Heavenly Father, but they can’t really understand his role in their lives. They know they should love Him, but don’t really give Him credit for their physical existence. This is a very deist view with a touch of agnosticism, but is held by some who call themselves Christians.
God is indeed mysterious, and He is most certainly real at the same time. We understand what we read about Him, and by our experiences with Him, but there are so many aspects of His self, and His existence that go far beyond our ability to comprehend. Waiting on Him can be a challenge when we don’t believe that He is active and real in our lives every day. Waiting on Him can be hard when we can’t feel the nail holes in Christ’s hands. So how do we come to the place where we trust in His active love for us, and the daily help He is giving us without touching the wound in his side? We do so by exercising our faith, by believing those things we can’t see.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
We believe in Him like we believe in air, gravity, and centrifugal force. We feel His effects on our life, and use them to reassure ourselves that He is exactly the God we read about in the Bible, and the Father that Jesus prayed and wept tears of blood before in the Garden of Gethsemane. Faith is having a firm grasp on something that can’t be held... it is feeling the love in an embrace or a kiss, and yet knowing that this is only its manifestation… its expression.
How long do lovers wait on a husband or wife to come home from a long trip? How long does our love last after the death of someone we love deeply? If what we possessed is true love in the first place, then the answer would be forever. This is how God loves us, and this is how long our willingness to wait on God should be. Although it can be painful, true love is unyielding.
I knew of a man who lost His wife of many years, but her memory, and the love he felt for her continued on. One day, in his loneliness, he met another woman who captured his heart, and they were married, but that new love didn’t erase the old one... no, it had a life of its own, and became another... but not a replacement. Love knows no end, but sometimes the pain does. This man was fortunate to have two great loves; he loved, and lived with the one, while waiting to see the other again one day. Waiting is made easier when we realize the love we hold... we feel it like a warm pebble in our hand... and sometimes two.
God is not simply a mystery, He is the love we hold like the pebbles, and the overwhelming reality of it in an embrace. He is the spirit our eyes can’t see, and the faith in reality we can’t touch. Waiting for Him becomes easy when we understand this very real part of His nature. It allows us to feel air as He breathes, and trust that when He lets go of our hand we will fall. Waiting on God is made easier by the reality provided us by our faith. Is He real to you today?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your love that I feel and its power that makes my believing in you easy, and waiting on you bearable. Thank you for the warm pebbles you have placed in my hand that remind me of how real you are, and how patient you have been with me. Help me Lord to embrace your Son Jesus Christ, and show me how real you are when I place my fingers in the holes through His Hands. Thank you for his physical presence that reassures me of my faith in you, and for the tears I shed in prayer as I kneel before you. You are my God, and you walk with me every day. It is you who sees me through all things because you have never abandoned me, nor turned your face away. Though I may wait, I do so by trusting in you, and knowing your Word is powerful and true. Great are you my God, and great is my faith that bears the scars of Adam’s having fallen. These spiritual scars serve as reminders that you will always pick me up and that you are my Holy Father in whose embrace I feel “agape love”, your divine love... now and forevermore.
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Rich Forbes