When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it’s time to step ahead into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen. Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. Edward Tiller

The quote above states well for me what the promise of faith is. God promises us that Christ reconciles us to God, reestablishing a connection that we ourselves had broken. I cant count the times that I had reached the end of my rope, gotten to the point where I started to believe my own thoughts that God really had let me down, that maybe all this grace and faith wasn’t for me. And just about then, and often not until then, I would find it. I would find the inner voice, the providential circumstance, the word from just the right friend of scripture. In all these and many other ways I would hear the Word of God speak to my heart and undeniably believe again that the promises were true. Somehow, some way, I got through what I thought I couldn’t. And I knew that I didn’t do it alone. That is faith. It’s not an even keel steady tempo kind of journey. It is one with bumps and bruises, hills and valleys, triumphs and tribulations. But that’s ok. Because God is in there with us.

And like anything in life, building up faith takes effort. It takes time. It takes repetition and ritual, practice and protocol. Lent gives us 40 days of that time. Lenten worship gives us a framework to practice it. Lent is a time of restructuring and reaffirming our faith.

As we begin this 40 day journey, starting out with Ash Wednesday and culminating with the beginning of the Easter season, you will endure and experience the same variety of life that you have until now. But do one thing different. Trust God to be right there with you in all of it. Know that you will either be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught to fly. I know I have.