Week Two
December 11, 2021
Second Kind of Faith
Luke 1:57-66
But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” Luke 1:60
Faith is tricky. For some, faith comes easily, a childlike trust that God is always there, a belief that God hears every prayer, a certainty that God has a plan about everything. For others, faith is more difficult, like trying to grasp a handful of fog or see the wind. It’s there, but not easily describable or concrete.
Looking into the future is an act of the second kind of faith. We can’t know what’s there with certainty; we can only peer into it with near-sighted vision. Yet our faith can give us an underlying hope in the future, as in the passage from Isaiah.
For a people in exile, dreaming of a return home, it would have been easy to succumb to hopelessness. But with their faith, the words of Isaiah about the future, about repairing, restoration, and rebuilding were like trying to grasp that fog. It was there and not there at the same time.
Like the amazement surrounding the naming of John the Baptist, there is wonder about both the present and the future. As John’s name was clearly decided, people still wondered about his future—and their own—as they wondered what he would become. His future was not yet written but had promise and potential.
And so it is with us. As we wait through Advent and through life, may we embrace the fog and the wind, and the steadfast God there through it all.
Kelly Youngblood
Student Senate Member and Master of Divinity Student
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
