So we do not lose heart. I have lost heart so many times I can no longer count them. There have been calls to new congregations that I prayed for, that I hoped for, that I had convinced myself I was going to accept, only to receive a letter that started off, “We thank you for interviewing with us, however the Holy Spirit is leading us to call another candidate.”
I have also seen the strength in adversity. The courage that people exhibit when they go to the hospital to comfort a loved one who is encountering that rite of passage we call death. As a chaplain, I have helped spouses, parents and children take a loved one’s possessions out of the hospital in plastic bags.
It is precisely when we lose our heart that our faith kicks in. Faith is there to get us through those dark moments when all seems lost. Faith is not needed if there is no doubt, no fear, no sense of belonging, and fear that all is lost. Faith takes us by the hand and keeps our heart pumping until we find it again.
God, be our compass that we might find our way in the darkest of nights when we are blinded by our stress. Amen. —