Faith, Questions and Fire

Worship and the High of Faith

“Lord, there’s nothing, nothing is better than you!” These are words in the chorus to one of my favorite worship songs, Graves into Gardens. Beautiful, strong, goose bump-evoking. I sing those words with all my heart when the music is loud and the bass rattles me from the inside out just enough for my body to react in chills.

My voice chokes up, and with all the sincerity possible in that space, amplified by my faith family standing around me, we belt out the same words in imperfect harmony. My face is raised, my arms are high, and nothing can shake me.

Not in that moment anyway.

When the Music Fades, Where Does Faith Stand?

But what about when the music dies away? As the notes grow faint and life wafts in—when the shaking and rattling are no longer from the bass but from the storms of life—do I still believe those words?

Is there something better than You, Lord?

"You and then some" seems like it would be nice sometimes. When the music dies, does my faith stand, or does it fall? Can we honestly say that nothing is better than Jesus?

Not all the time. Not even half the time. Maybe not with full assurance at any time.

We are human, after all. Our faith remains blind to sight. What we see quickly detracts from what we cannot see. And sometimes, stumbling along unstable pathways feels like failing in the faith we are desperately trying to build.

Encouragement When Faith Feels Weak

Where is the encouragement when all the music has ceased, and daily life is beating us up? How do we take the passion-filled moments of worship and carry them into our daily reality? How do we let them spill over into the spaces we occupy?

The opening of 1 Peter 1 is such a beautiful prelude to the Christian life. Its notes carry the assurance that believers are part of God’s plan—not stuck forever in our imperfections, but transformed by the Spirit, called to live for Christ, and covered by His forgiveness.

But the passage doesn’t stop there. It marches on into more difficult territory.

Faith Refined Through Fire

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

Consider 1 Peter 1:1-2 as our why behind faith.

• Why do we continue in faith?

• Because we are a part of God’s plan, not stuck forever in this battle against brokenness.

• Because we are transformed by the Spirit, called to live in obedience to Christ, and covered in the unmerited favor of God’s forgiveness.

The how unfolds in the following verses. We are reminded that because of the why, we can greatly rejoice, though for a little while we will suffer in various ways. These trials come so that “the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7).

That’s a how with eternal magnitude.

Grace for the Journey

Life is hard. Faith is harder. But sometimes, we put pressure on ourselves to make the journey look like something God never intended. We want to be graceful in the process rather than accepting grace for the process.

We’re going to be clumsy. Walking blindly is a known hazard of this design. But when we accept grace for the journey, each step belongs to God—not to us to curate.

When Fear Takes Over

I was talking with a colleague the other day, and the fear and anxiety in their words were palpable.

"But what will I do with all of this? I can’t know what will happen over the next months or even years with this situation, and it could be a disaster!"

I wanted to say something perfect to make the fear dissipate, but I had no power to do so. The words that came out of my mouth were far from what I had hoped:

"Yes, it could be a horrible disaster."

Silence.

"But can you change any of it by worry or even action?"

"No," came the weak and defeated response.

"Perhaps that’s the point."

You’re not in control, but God is. You have a front-row seat to calamity… or maybe not. Maybe you have a front-row seat to God-sized solutions that don’t require anything more from you than fear and trembling as your faith is forged in fire.

It’s never pleasant. It’s never what we would choose. It’s not how we want the story to play out. But as Peter reminds us, it’s only for a little while.

Trials Perfect What Prosperity Cannot

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." — Chad Foster

"Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering… The love of God did not protect His own Son… He will not necessarily protect us—not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process." — Elisabeth Elliot

Trusting God Through Fire

"Lord, there’s nothing, nothing is better than You!"

Even in my most sincere moments, how can I truly know the weight of those words?

Jesus whispers to me again and again, “I will prove it to you.”

And faithfully, He does.

Often with fire, when I’d rather have comfort.
Much of the time in loss, when I didn’t know that excess was limiting my view.
Sometimes He hands me trouble that becomes treasure I never would have picked up on my own.
Sometimes He allows tears I will never understand until eternity.

But my faith needs to wait and trust in the why that has already been promised.

The Power of the Broken Hallelujah

What’s the secret for today? It’s not a big one.

Over the years, I’ve learned that there is immense value in the broken hallelujah—the one that comes out as barely a whisper, making no dent in the noise and chaos of earth, but rattling heaven’s doors.

The tear-stained face with a mouth fresh out of words, raised up to heaven, offering the smallest bit of belief encased in doubt.
The war-torn Christian covered in scars, with nothing but a barely audible utterance of the Name that, against all the world is screaming, is still above every other name.

Lay It All at His Feet

Bring the broken pieces, the ashes, the collapsed dreams, and all the things you hoped would be something but have turned out to be monsters.

Offer them back to Jesus.

Don’t try to make them something they aren’t. Don’t try to make the process more beautiful than it is.

Stand at His feet and offer Him your broken praise.

It’s in those moments where your heart begins to learn what your eyes cannot see and what your mind cannot fully know:

“Lord, there’s nothing, nothing is better than You!”