Plain Facts

It doesn't make sense.  Finally, the Messiah has come, the ministry is growing, miracles have abounded, and all He seems to focus on is leaving.  In fact, He tells us where He is going we cannot go.  Yet, we really don't need to worry because He's preparing a place for us.  He is leaving to get it ready for us and will then come to take us there.  Where's there?  And why does He have to leave at a time like this? What in the world is going on?  This is not what we signed up for.  Have we just fallen into a rabbit hole?  Perplexed and silent, His disciples pondered . . .

Sometimes, I just need plain facts.  Or rather, I think all I need are the facts.  Sometimes the facts are right in  front of me, and I ignore them or misconstrue them or try to change them or even deny them. Sometimes, I am blinded and cannot see nor grasp them.  But all of that has no bearing on the facts, they are just plain facts . . .

Having brunch yesterday with a longtime girlfriend filled up most of my hours.  In fact, we were some of the last patrons to leave before the restaurant closed for the day.  The outdoor setting of pleasant shade and sun under the trees seemed to stimulate our conversation.  We share almost thirty years of life together, although no longer working side by side, we have no barriers in picking up from where we last left off.  Listening to her, I was struck with her confident faith in God.  In fact, it seems to have empowered her as a person, a wife, a professor and even as my girlfriend.   I was challenged to examine my own faith. . .

The plain facts are that I don't need to know the "where" in life.  Just as those eleven disciples discovered in their question and answer session with Jesus, the point of all was that He "was the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through (Him)."  (John 14:6).   Yet there are times in life, I wonder and question, just like the disciples.   My "where" seems so much different than what I had expected.  Yet, the fact is had I known how life would be playing out for me, I couldn't have taken it in.  I would have been overwhelmed and perhaps even on the verge of despair. So faith grows patiently and silently, in the midst of challenge and change. . .

I am trying to improve my muscular strength.  I have a work out routine with weights, planned and prompted by my son.  It has only been a few months and I can tell that there is greater strength, but I just don't have the "cut muscles" to show.  There are days that are hard to be consistent, because at times I lack the energy to do it, and I procrastinate the time.  But the plain fact is with moderation and consistency I am growing stronger, even though I don't see the benefit.

I have to stick with the facts, the plain facts to make it through this life.  Faith is believing in the One who is The Way.  Faith is believing and knowing when I do not see the outcome or "the where."    Faith progresses through my struggles, my failures, and my doubts.  All I need to do is just accept the plain facts  . . .