Broken Yoke Ministries
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Into the Light

It Takes Faith

By Bob Van Domelen

September 2010

 

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11.1

 

      A good man and a faithful correspondent recently closed his letter with a request that I consider writing the main article for this newsletter on faith.

      Specifically, he asked “How those of us on the inside can acknowledge our challenges, setbacks, attacks to our faith, to have them recognized, validated, and then how to take the next step of overcoming them.”

      He went on to ask “How to have faith and to go on being who we are in spite of whom others say we are and in spite of our environment.”  I know, he really asked two questions.

      If I wanted to be a wimp, I could have ignored the first question and concentrated on the second.  But when I thought about the great examples of people walking in faith, it seemed to me that faith got them through the challenges and setbacks.  Faith is not some highway bypass for the purpose of avoiding downtown traffic congestion.

      For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  (Ephesians 2:8)

      We ask for faith, maybe even beg for it, but unlike other tangible gifts, faith doesn’t just appear one morning sitting on our nightstand with a note attached. Yet God has both planted the seed within us and positioned it for growth.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for

      As a boy, I attended a parochial school. Before each athletic event we prayed God would be on our side and help bring us to victory.  Of course, the opposition was also a parochial school and probably said the same prayer.  I don’t recall thinking God had turned his back on us in our defeats, but I suspect some of my classmates might have wondered what went wrong.

      A prayer for an athletic victory is not an example of how faith works, yet we often hear phrases like “claiming the victory” or “name it and claim it” in our churches and in our prayer groups. Failure to claim something is considered a sign of weak or non-existent faith.  In short, it is our fault if what we pray for doesn’t come to pass.

      My friend mentions very real and legitimate situations he and all in prison face.  Each day sex offenders wonder if they will survive the threats of other inmates who consider them less than worthy of life.  Each day these individuals wonder why prayers for a parole are denied, why family members turn their backs on them, or why they have lost the familiar environment in which to worship that was theirs outside of prison walls.  They sometimes feel that the forgiveness given others through a public confession of sin is not theirs because their sin is the worst sin, the sin that cannot be forgiven though we both are not true. Besides, public confession would be a huge risk in many institutions where sex offenders pray instead for anonymity.

      Legitimate prayers.  Certainly much more sincere and significant than praying for the outcome of an athletic event. Somehow, this faith God has given doesn’t make much sense when nothing changes and the outcome falls far short of the prayer’s intention.  But it should be pointed out that inmates have no lock on problems associated with faith. All people find themselves confronted with the same questions if they are honest with themselves.

Recognized and Validated

      I am pretty certain that we all recognize the challenges and setbacks others have—how can we not unless we live in a world of total self-focus. Granted, most of the outside world has little idea of what prison life is really like, but there are some who do. Anyone in prison or connected with someone in prison hears stories, knows of situations that should never happen but do, and has encountered the “system.”

      Recognition that something is bad doesn’t take much, but validation does because when the concern is about a wrong, the word implies an agreement that the wrong needs to be righted. I can validate my friend’s concerns but I am somewhat powerless to personally change them.  I say somewhat powerless because I can and do pray for him.  Is that faith?  Does anything change?

Certain of what we do not see

      If I said I prayed that he would sense God’s loving presence when things were tough, would you consider that a cop-out? Shouldn’t I be asking for an end to the injustices, a parole, or at least a transfer to a lower level institution? I do pray for those things, but I can be sure that asking God to make my friend aware of His presence will happen, not because I ask but because God promised He would never leave us. God’s word told me that; preachers preach that; and I believe that!  From where I stand, that’s faith.

What of the stuff I deal with?

      Overcoming the issues we face (both from within ourselves and from those around us) is a series of choices. I have learned that as I strengthen my walk with God, I make fewer unhealthy choices. Where once I thought I had no choice but to choose sin, I now recognize God’s grace to avoid it. I wish I could say I always choose God, but I can’t. At the same time, the sins of my past, the sins that led to abusing have not been options and that’s a good thing.

      An increased awareness of God and a deeper desire to serve God completely do not, unfortunately, guarantee that I won’t have to deal with the negativity created by others. Those who would call me names or consider me the same man I was 25 years ago will continue to do so until something in them changes.

            2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4) 

      Over the years, I have been blessed by the witness of hundreds of sex offenders who have not only endured difficult things but have grown despite those situations. I did nothing to change their lives but I watched the changes as they came to life in the letters these people wrote.

      How others see you or me is theirs to decide. Not one of them, however, will be standing with us when we face God nor will we be standing with them. In the end, I am reminded of those to whom Jesus said “I knew you not.” They were not bad people but I wonder if their faith somehow been replaced by simply doing good things?

            Faith is not a place or the seeking of a favorable outcome. It is a relationship with God. Though we might stumble to define it, it is the cement that bonds us with our Creator. And in the end, I want to say as Paul said to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)

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