Faith and Mystery: Making Peace With What Cannot Be Explained.
I’m going to open this blog by saying that if all things were obvious, faith wouldn’t be necessary. I think mystery invites surrender to God, and how sad would that be to have no mystery in life or no faith. To me, life without mystery and faith would be predictable, bland, boring, and faithless.
Mystery is an invitation to explore the world and ourselves; mystery cannot be forced. Mystery creates space for us to wonder about things; it’s an invitation with the unknown, a feeling that is perhaps contrary to a situation, a love that is never-ending. Mystery is an invitation, not a threat. Sometimes we have to just live with mystery, as it’s not predictable and cannot be planned or anticipated. Mystery, or the unknown, is when we believe there is something in this life that is bigger than ourselves.
Our minds are powerful tools, but they are not infinite, and mysteries cannot be explained by a finite mind. Some people cannot accept infinite occurrences or circumstances. They become troubled as their minds seek answers to questions or to things that cannot be explained. To be human means, at some point, we have to trust in order to move forward, even when life makes no sense. I think it’s essential that we hold mysteries gently in our hands and allow questions to exist, rather than force an answer.
When truth and faith are woven together with our beliefs and values of living, life can make sense, and people believe they can go on even when life is tough. Therefore, trusting without clarity is faith. Sometimes truths reveal themselves slowly through the years. Most people believe that peace comes through understanding a mystery, but I think true peace comes from trusting without clarity and living inside the mystery without fear. Faith is the opposite of doubt.
So many of the experiences I have encountered are written in my book, “Benedictions Given to an Ordinary Woman,” which talks about mysteries, confusion and faith. Sometimes life has no answers to the questions we seek. To put your trust in God’s everlasting arms is truly exciting to me! I don’t need to have all the answers, sometimes, as in my book, I have no answers at all! But I can faithfully say, I’ve never been happier with Jesus/God/the Holy Spirit in my life.
In His hands we live, shalom—shalom