Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Keep silent and let me speak;
    then let come to me what may.
Why do I put myself in jeopardy
    and take my life in my hands?
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
    I will surely defend my ways to his face.

• Job 13:13-15

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

• John 6:67-59

“We sometimes wrongly illustrate faith in God by the faith of a business man in a cheque. Faith commercially is based on calculation, but religious faith cannot be illustrated by the kind of faith we exhibit in life. Faith in God is a terrific venture in the dark; I have to believe that God is good in spite of all that contradicts it in my experience. It is not easy to say that God is love when everything that happens actually gives the lie to it. Everyone‘s soul represents some kind of battlefield. The point for each one is whether we will hang in, as Job did, and say ‘Though things look black, I will trust in God’ …”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (November 25, from Baffled to Fight Better)

Rev. Chambers makes a great illustration about trusting a business man with a bank check in his hand.  When we had jobs in one particular country, we were tricked by a governmental ruse.  The check could be issued, but the bank did not have to release the funds from the country to a foreign bank, meaning to our account in the USA.  Thus, we had the check, but we could not cash it until the funds were released and the customer had to send a letter to the governing body over the bank.

I had a classroom full of people from that country and I was instructed to not teach them, not even welcome them to the USA until the check had been transferred out of their country.  Of course, the governing body transferred the money to a third party bank in a country with equally difficult rules.  But about three hours later, we got paid and I was able to start teaching.

But in most cases, when the business man has a check in his hands and you have done due diligence to know that there are sufficient funds, you can have some trust.

But then, God makes Himself known in so many ways.  Are we totally in the dark.  After all, we have trust in the Light of the world.

There are dark times, and Job honestly faced one, where we just have to dig in our heels and trust in God, as if it is our only option.

When Jesus made some difficult teaching, a lot of the disciples turned away.  Jesus was talking about being the bread of life, and they would have to eat the bread.  They could not get past the metaphor and thought He meant cannibalism.

But the few remained, and Peter basically said, “Where else could we go?”

They were standing there looking at Jesus.  They knew Jesus had the answers.  The question is whether they could understand those answers.  Most of the understanding only came when the Holy Spirit revealed things to them.

So, I believe there are those times when we have to step out in blind faith, regardless of how “informed” we might be.  And there are times when we step into darkness, but that should not happen unless we have done a lot of praying and we know it is what God wants of us.

Job’s faith was being tested, and Job wanted a face-to-face with God.  How dare he do that!  And that is about what God said when that face-to-face really happened (metaphorically since God is a spirit).

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.