Magazine 23 Aug 2007 "Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith"
"O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self
thirsts for you, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and
weary land where no water is." [1]
The article Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith is written with a
shocking insight into the life of a great woman, Mother Teresa (Anges
Bojaxhiu), and portraying one of her deepest inner battles "the
darkness within faith" [2] that she faced for the biggest part of her
ministry. This "darkness" reflected in letters written to her
confessors, which showed a woman that very much loved God and tried
her very best to do His will, yet still felt even lonelier in doing
so.
On this subject I'm with Mother Teresa and David as with so many
others, when we in all our human failures ask the same question in
times of darkness. Even though we know there is a God we still ask
the question when looking at our situations.
"… that there was no human remedy for it (that is, she should not
feel responsible for affecting it); that feeling Jesus is not the
only proof of his being there, and her very craving for God was a
'sure sign' of his 'hidden presence' in her life; and that the
absence was in fact part of the 'spiritual side' of her work for
Jesus." [2]
Reading this statement strengthens my way of living for God in the
fact that, if the norm in my life is feelings and manifestations I
will fail in troubled times, but if the norm in my life is faith upon
the word of God, I will pull through troubles times. Mother Teresa
could have stopped believing, doing and caring but how many lives
would have been lost by her going on a feeling.
In my life as a Christian there will be times that I feel that God is
just not there. These are the times that I need to start acting in
faith as Mother Teresa did and continue pushing forward for that
greater goal, His kingdom. Mother Teresa said it so beautifully;
"I accept not in my feelings—but with my will, the Will of God—I
accept His will" [2]
Having times of darkness within faith forces me to turn my face away
from that which is around me and face towards my creator, it forces
me to search His will and not mine.
These are not times of abandonment but times of focusing on my
dependence in God.
References:
1 Psalm 63:1 Amplified Bible
2 David Van Biema, Time Magazine 23 Aug 2007
1 comment:
We all enjoy the good times. We accept and embrace them and consider it as a given. Why then don't we accept the bad times? I suspect that faith can only be grown in the worst of times. So why does God allow certain things in our lives, is it to test, grow or establish faith? Maybe faith is not an action after all but rather an "accept and love" in any case the good and bad. I think faith is rather a decision to love and follow the Lord's will no matter the circumstances or odds.
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