Holiday Merriment for Senior Adults
Is FAITH a Merry-Go-Round?
I liken my faith to a merry-go-round. Why? Because like the merry-go-round, faith can go round and round and then suddenly stop. And so, too. my faith can go round and round and suddenly stop.
Then what is ”Faith”?
The best description is in Hebrews 11. The entire chapter is dedicated to explaining faith and giving real, true examples of faith. Sometimes Hebrews 11 is referred to as the Faith chapter.
Each time I go off the merry-go round, so to speak, it is harder to get back on. Why? Not sure I have a concrete answer. So I look at a few possible reasons.
Maybe the trial that toppled me is more difficult.
Maybe I’m tired of life’s tribulations.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t been to Prayer Group for a while.
Maybe it’s because I thought faith would last forever and ever.
Maybe it’s because…because…because
Maybe I just don’t know!
But I DO know that I must get back on that faith merry-go-round again. And stay on it whether I am experiencing trials or not!
So what is faith? The New American Bible, Hebrews 11: 1-3 says: ”Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the work of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.”
Hebrews 11 even gives examples of faith as we keep reading. Hebrews 11:17: By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, ”Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” It was faith that made the Israelites able to cross the Red jSea as if on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do it, the water swallowed them up.
If Isaac had faith to offer his son, then I, too, can offer my trials to God! Let’s get back on the Merry-Go-Round of Faith, God’s faith!