By Faith and Fear: When All Else Fails

Introduction Part 2: The Journey

What is it that makes you move through life from opportunity to opportunity? Is it faith that inspires you to do things out of the ordinary or is it fear? Fear is a scary force indeed. If you’re standing on a railroad track with a speeding train closing in, what is your reaction? Is it fear that you might die that forces you to move? Is it faith that the train is on a destructive path that causes you to move? Or is it just simple instinct born out of self preservation that makes you move?

This is not a philosophical book and I do not want to waste time sorting out the differences. The most important thing I have found in life is that faith makes me do things I thought I could never do and fear does likewise. In this book we’ll sort out many characters in the Old Testament that were moved by both forces and yet were still called righteous. They were all on an incredible journey. But where were they going? What were they seeking?

Imagine if a trusted friend came to you and told you that he discovered a buried treasure worth $8.3 bazillion dollars on a secret island and said that he wanted you to have it all because he was dying of some terminal illness that would claim his life in the matter of a few short weeks. Would you be interested? Despite your natural grief for your friend’s dying condition, more than likely I would assume that your attention would be spiked at this point. As you inquire more about this amazing business proposal you feel overjoyed at the thought of this life changing opportunity. The catch is this: the treasure is buried on a small island in the vast Pacific Ocean and in order to go get it you need to buy a certain type of boat that can handle the vast ocean, potential pirates, government agencies tracking you and dangerous waves. You know you can’t afford this boat but with the money that your friend guarantees you, you’d be able to buy thousands of these boats once you’ve gotten your hands on the treasure.

He explains the process: you’ll have to take out a loan for the boat purchase. You listen attentively to all the details. You start to feel a little wary about this venture. After all, you have no boating experience and no background in treasure hunting. You ask your friend a few pertinent questions like: “Where exactly is this island? How long will it take to get there?” and so on. Your friend gives a reassuring smile. He says he’ll give you that information after you buy the boat. You’re not too thrilled with this reply, but you understand that your friend demands commitment before disclosing such details. However, you still struggle with following through with the purchase of this boat. You truly are uncomfortable risking all that you have to get this boat. You continue to talk to your friend and he continues to assure you it’ll be ok. Meanwhile, his deteriorating condition worsens by the day. You know he won’t be around much longer.

A few days later you take a deep breath and follow through with the plan. You go to the bank, put up your house and car as collateral, and bring home a new boat. You’re nervous because this new purchase needs to be paid back ASAP or else you lose everything. However, your confidence in your friend is unwavering and you willingly sign over your house, car, assets, etc… After all, you’ll be able to replace them all with better stuff once you cash in on this incredible treasure.

Your friend sees you pull up to the house with the new boat and is excited to give you the next instruction. Your friend did not want this treasure to go wasted or undiscovered after he dies, hence the reason he is entrusting it to you as a friend he truly loves and trusts. Your trusty friend gives you the coordinates of the island and the exact location of the buried treasure. Goose bumps rise all over at the thought of being wealthier than King Solomon himself. You immediately run home and jump on Google Earth and Maps and punch in the coordinates. After you try a few times, all you find on the computer screen is open water. You check again and again but the search still comes up empty. No such island exists according to Google. You immediately call your friend to reconfirm the info he gave you. Your friend reassures you the coordinates are accurate and the island exists. You go back to Google and in frustration you feel a bit stressed at the thought that there is nowhere online that can confirm that this island exists. The friend you loved and trusted with everything you had is now causing you to doubt and panic.

Out of anger and disappointment, you storm over to your dying friend’s house and begin to yell and scream at him for getting your hopes up and perhaps costing you everything in the process. With the same confidence and excitement that captured you in the beginning, the friend assures you that the island is there and that Google is wrong. Your friend tells you about the time he found the island and starts to describe it to you. He shares vivid details about how the soft sand felt under his feet while he walked along the beach. He gives explicit details about the taste of the coconut juice he drank while watching the sunset on the shore. As you sit and listen, you also begin to believe again and feel as if you were with your friend on the island. Your doubt is quelled once again by your friend’s sincere words. Excitement starts to permeate your soul once more.

Days later, you say good-bye to your best friend at his funeral. The very next morning, with a renewed sense of purpose, motivation and excitement, you take your friend’s coordinates, punch them into the GPS that your friend gave you as a gift before he died, and you set sail on an incredible journey. You know you have to find this treasure because you can’t come home until you have it. After all, you gave up everything to get it. All you have now is a boat, confidence in your friend’s words, unconditional hope and open water ahead. You have never been to where you’re now headed. Only your friend has and you believe he was telling the truth. You have a surreal peace and assurance in what you’re doing and where you’re going. But the process will not be easy and the thought of it already stresses you out. The fear of the unknown is mounting as you drift further and further away from the shores you once called home. You wonder to yourself “Is it worth it?” No one else believes this island is out there, but you’re on your way to discovering this island and perhaps other things along the way.

*This book is designed to ask you a lot of questions. It is not a book meant for a solo journey. I pray that as you read through the thoughts and questions presented that you come to conclusions that will strengthen you. The church is under attack and I’m often embarrassed by the lack of knowledge and answers “Christians” have to a dying world in need of the hope and cure we possess. This book hopes to serve as a tool to help you sort through a variety of issues that face our Christian journey today. This book will also help to challenge your basic Sunday school Bible knowledge. You might even find the discussions in this book thought provoking, dividing and entertaining. Be careful, you might enjoy this book!