A Brand New Belief

"You're about to be given new grounds for believing."

John 11:15

I view that challenge I'm facing, that hardship I'm enduring, that pain I'm suffering through lenses of black and white.  There exists what is and what is not; the possible and the impossible.  The lenses through which I look are constructed of pragmatism born of my experiences.  As did Martha when told by Jesus that her brother would be raised from the dead, I acknowledge that he can do anything but determine the parameters within which he can work.

Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died.  Even now, I know that whatever you ask God, he will give you."

Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up."

Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time." 

In utter exasperation, I cry out, "God, I really don't see how you can!"  He replies, "You're about to be given new grounds for believing."  An experiential encounter.  An exposure of the roots of my beliefs that gives me the opportunity to choose childlike faith.  I claim more of that freedom that is mine for the having as a co-heir of Christ, and I have greater perspective than I did before.  Perhaps tomorrow's challenge or hardship or pain will be met not with resignation and despair, but with expectant, wide-eyed wonder and the accompanying faith that says, "I may not know how God will come through, but I'm about to be given new grounds for believing."