On uncertainty and faith
* So if life is infinitely uncertain and God is infinitely complex, then all we can do is accept our finitude and embrace uncertainty. I think many people have the mistaken notion that faith reduces uncertainty. Nothing could be further from the truth. Faith doesn’t reduce uncertainty. Faith embraces uncertainty.
We’ll never have all the answers. And some people never come to terms with this truth. They feel like something is wrong with them because they can’t wrap their minds around God. But maybe faith has less to do with gaining knowledge and more to do with causing wonder.
* There is nothing easy about taking risks...But lion chasers have the courage to overcome inaction inertia. Their fear of missing out is greater than their fear of messing up.
* Is it just me or does it seem like some people act as if faith is the reduction of risk? They act as if the goal of faith is to eliminate risk so our lives are, in the words of the old hymn, “safe and secure from all alarm.”
Have you read the Bible lately? Faith is risky business.
The goal of faith is not the elimination of risk. In fact, the greatest risk is taking no risk. Isn’t that the principle in the parable of the talents?
On spiritual growth
* There is a difference between a transcript and a resume. A transcript reveals what you know. It’s who you are on paper. A resume reveals what you have done. Some of us act as if our transcript is all that matters. But knowledge is not the end goal. What really matters is what we do with what we know.
* Think of spiritual maturity as a continuum. On one side is God-consciousness and on the other side is self-consciousness. To become like Christ is to become less self-conscious and more God-conscious. The end result is the crucifixion of ungodly inhibitions that keep us from chasing lions.
~ from IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY by Mark Batterson
