The Peace We Long For: Advent in Disorienting Times | Day 2

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

Maybe you are like me, and you were baptized in these words around the idea that having faith means having a certainty about who God is and your belief systems. The idea of being disoriented in your faith journey, doubting, wondering, questioning seems to be add odds with this understanding of faith.

In the past few years, I have become more and more confident that the disorienting moments of our faith journey can actually be great catalysts in forming who our spiritually and our understanding of God. Because of this, I see and understand faith differently.

Faith is the assurance. Or in other words, trust in what I can't see or comprehend about God, our humanity, good, and evil.

Pete Enns, in his book The Sin of Certainty, says it this way, "Aligning faith in God and certainty about what we believe and needing to be right in order to maintain a healthy faith—these do not make for a healthy faith in God."

It might seem, at times, depending on the type of spiritual culture you were raised that this type of formation feels wrong. Because faith and certainty were always synonymous.

We continue to claim the story that we tell each year during the Advent season, that is, in the moments of surprise, disorienting, where our faith becomes a foundry for birthing something beautiful.

As you move through this season, my hope and prayer is that it might not bring "answers," but that you might begin to claim your spirituality more deeply, recognizing how the questions we carry are forming our identity and how we conceive of God and the world.

Prayer: God, help me trust that the questions and uncertainties I carry are shaping me into who you are calling me to become.