#wearesozo

[sozospokane]

The Elephant of How

Genesis 17: 15-17 -- And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Thank God I am not alone in my confusion and I thank Him for His sense of humor and grace in my reaction.  God has made promises and called me to tasks and accomplishments that are far larger than the mindset and the life of now. My reaction is so often first Abraham’s, shock and incredulity; I love the wording of it, he fell on his face and laughed. Isaac’s arrival into the world was both a promise and a call. Abraham was not only requested to trust that God would bring about the promise of a son, but also to trust that when he did what God asked, God would do that which only He could do.

This elephant is a peculiar one in that I am so often hugely aware that I have no idea what the plan is or who I am supposed to be and it seems to be God who is ignoring the issue at hand. I panic each and every time. The panic has lessened over the years as I’ve gotten older, but still, God speaks to me about who I am or His work in my life and I flip out, desperately trying to figure out how it all will work out and what I am supposed to do. How am I supposed to logically believe that the promise will come about or that He will get me to the place to be all that He has called me?

The Elephant of How is solved with this simple principle; trust His heart, hear His voice. How does it all work? Thank God, He is faithful and He has the big picture and figuring it all out is not my problem or task, it is His. At the end of it all we are led to the same conclusion as Job, who in 42:3b and 5 repents and says, “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know… I had heard by the hearing of my ear, but now my eye sees you.” I believe that the elephant leaves when I come to the realization, again, that the How is His and His alone. I position myself to listen for His instruction, to be faithful to take the next step in this present moment, and then rest in the knowledge that this is all about Him.  ~Megan

[sozospokane]

The Elephant of Questioning

When I first started going to church, I was at a stage in my relatively new faith that I found my mind swirling with questions.  Yet, I felt that to be a Christian was to walk in blind faith and that to ask the questions was to, in a way, sacrifice my new faith at the altar of my intellect.  Then when I finally gained the courage to ask some of what I saw as the ‘less volatile’ questions I had, it never seemed that the answers were substantive nor what I was actually looking for.  I was frustrated because I wanted to understand the faith, but I was uncertain of whether I could with my brain intact.  I was inclined to academic study, but thought I had to live in a constant state of bad faith if I was to pursue it.

The elephant in the room at that time was that of questions.  Could I have these doubts and these questions and still be a Christian?  Could I think critically about what I was being taught without being ostracized from the church?  Were there actually answers out there that didn’t require me to check my brain at the door?  I was terrified that to ask questions was to turn my back on God.

The problem was that I had too narrow of an understanding of God.  I thought perhaps God was just waiting for me to show a lack of faith so that He could strike me down; however, that isn’t the case.  As I started to study theology and classics from people like Saint Augustine and others in the early church, I found they wrestled with many of the same questions I had (and still have).  These great leaders of the faith didn’t have it all figured out either and they used their reason as they approached questions of God and Scripture.  God didn’t strike them down for their inquiry, but rather, met them in it.

I discovered that to ask questions often does not constitute a lack of faith (although it can), but rather, we have questions because a healthy faith builds in us a desire to understand and know the God we worship.  As Saint Augustine said in a sermon, “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”  We may not find all of the answers to our questions, but we need not be afraid of seeking them out.  Because when we ask questions in the church, we are in good company.  When we seek out answers in faith God rewards us with understanding and sometimes gives us peace to simply live in the mystery.

- Robert

[sozospokane]

The Elephant of Invisible Truth

Seeing is believing. It’s commonplace these days, in some circles, to reduce reality down to that which can be perceived by the five senses. At times the temptation to question the idea that ‘that which is seen is temporal but that which is unseen is eternal’ is nearly too easy. The elephant in this particular room, a nagging question about what is really true, can appear to be more visible in my imagination than the invisible God I worship. Distractions abound, keeping me entertained a thousand different ways which also keeps me from addressing the ever-present elephant; an interloper which would prefer to remain undiscovered so as not to be evicted from its comfortable quarters in my heart and mind.

Yet I’m even more provoked when something quite outside of my will and control causes the elephant I’m so familiar with to seem somehow smaller. A new challenger emerges. Another elephantine contender has entered the ring of my thoughts, and this one asks a wiser question. When my heart is suddenly softened though I knew it to be an impossibility; when my anger gives way to love; when my fear inexplicably becomes trust - who is behind the scenes working all things together for my good? The invisible God all at once becomes more substantive than the questions for which I have demanded answers. When I see myself as He does, it seems I’ve been holding my own soul hostage until I get the answers which I think will bring peace. I put God on trial and try to convince Him to jump through hoops to win my trust. Instead, He gently lifts me out of my confusion and makes me more than merely sound. He makes me want to be good. He, Himself, becomes my peace and I find I have no questions left to ask.

Thomas would not believe Jesus had returned from the invisibility of death unless he was given the proof of feeling for himself Jesus’ nail-caused scars. Only what he could see and touch would suffice to be worthy of the name ‘truth.’ Jesus met Thomas in his fear and reluctance and spoke to a questioning heart which I would later inherit. His hopeful words echo across time and win the war for my affections (where once an immovable elephant sat) as he looks into Thomas’ eyes - my eyes - and says: ‘You have seen and so you believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe.’ - Jae

[sozospokane]

Elephant Talks

Hello! Sozo is back in the blogosphere and so excited to be here!!

These last few months have been busy ones with joining together as two congregations to express the reality of God’s love and glory in Spokane. As we move forward in this mission, we hope that this blog will encourage you in your journey of faith and bring about a greater revelation of Jesus in your life.

For the fall semester, Sozo just launched a new series called The Elephant in the Room. This sermon series takes a verse by verse look at Isaiah 64 and examines the topics God points out to us that must be addressed in order for us to continue to grow closer to Him and more effective in glorifying His name. As a part of the series, there will be a concurrent series of blog posts from members of Sozo sharing their stories of when God addressed an elephant in the room of their life. Each of these stories come from people who know what it is to wrestle with issues theological and practical that they wanted to ignore, but God pointed out and intervened on their behalf to bring glory to His name and wholeness to their life.

I am so excited for this series; the topics addressed in Isaiah are deep and if we allow God to work in our hearts, this will be a life changing time for all involved.  Thank you for following us and for taking the time to read the blog. We really appreciate it.  If you are challenged, encouraged, or moved in some fashion, please let us know! Share, like, comment, tell your story, join us on Sunday mornings and in community groups; be a part of what’s happening.  Have a great week and we’ll talk again soon.  - Megan