Dear Members and Friends,
There are some passages in scripture we might like to teach, perhaps even desire to hear, but never want to actually experience. Even so it seems that many of the greatest truths about God can only be understood amidst our greatest trials.
In our church, this past month has occasioned great sadness in the hearts of those grieving the loss of loved ones, and those finding all too familiar the uncertainty of the human condition. The painful experiences I am referring to have touched the lives of many in our midst, from the very young to those further along in years. Some of these burdens have been broadly shared; others only privately endured. While the events that have spawned this season of difficulty have been quite diverse, if there is one consistent theme throughout, it is that each one of these struggles has been encountered by individuals of incredible goodness and faith. Of this last detail I am completely certain.
When things that matter so much seem to make no sense, it would be an insult, and decidedly futile endeavor, to articulate an easy, or even a lofty explanation. To attempt a solution in mere words for losses of wonderful lives can only magnify, not mollify the tears of anguish that each bespeak tremendous affection and grief.
To be sure, the Cross that adorns our worship space has entered more than a few of our homes and many of our hearts. Yet with it, just like in the Bible, there is Someone else present as well. For as Jesus so fully demonstrated, wherever the Cross may be, God will be there too. Thus, the seasons will change, and the mystery of Sin will be overcome by the miracle of Salvation.
Personally, these last few weeks I have been reminded of a crucial milestone on the way of mature discipleship - a cornerstone that holds within our worst fears and our brightest hopes. It is that when we feel furthest from God, with no happy feelings to confirm our beliefs and no quiet assurances to confirm our convictions, it is then that God is intimately and ultimately close by.
Thus it can be that even in words of anger or struggles in disbelief, we will find the grounding of a new and deeper faith. One that comes to know that which we might be too frightened to consider - that when we can sense him the least, God is with us the most. Indeed, there may be days when we will be entangled by despair, but there will never come a time when we will be estranged from our God.
From Reverend William J. Keane,
Senior Minister of First Baptist Church of Branford
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