Good Stuff From Pastor Stan and C.S. Lewis

Couple of fabulous quotes here from Pastor Stan Mitchell of Grace Pointe Church, and my thoughts to follow:

(via C.S. Lewis): "If you don't tell your moods where they can get off, you will spend your entire life subject to the whims of the weather, the state of your digestion, and other people's authority."

"God will take silly things and all manner of madness spoken TO Him as opposed to abstract things said ABOUT Him any day of the week."

These two quotes symbolize some of the trouble I occasionally find myself having with my faith. Life does ebb and flow, sometimes I am on top of the mountain and others in the valley. I take so much comfort in the fact that my faith now is strong enough to survive this rollercoaster and to not snap off at the root like a tree in a hurricane when challenged.

That said, during some of those really low lows, loss of or fights with loved ones, broken hearts, etc., I find myself trying to figure, think, and reason it all out using only my mind and doctrine. That is a futile battle indeed, because only God Himself is big enough to speak to, fix, and heal during those times. The reason those bad things happen in my life are precisely the same as the reasons for the other awful things that happen throughout the world...because it is part of God's plan proceeding according to His will. Trying to wrap doctrine and mortal brainpower around such things as loss and heartache, although it has its limited places and uses, has never fixed or accomplished a single thing for me, and I doubt it ever will. The only thing that has ever worked for me is to speak all manner of the madness in my mind and heart TO God, as respectfully as possible of course ;). God can take questions, discourse, wrestling, and even things like anger and confusion...what breaks His heart is silence, and trying to use our brains and doctrine alone to make sense of our lives and circumstances. If we hope to do make it through the valleys of life and tests of our faith, we must talk to and rely on Him...nothing else will do.