Can I Be Candid?
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here…” John 11:21.
How do you struggle with your faith? (Notice I didn’t ask IF you struggled.)
Martha, speaking here in John’s gospel, was close friends with Jesus. In this verse, she’s perplexed and anguished by His absence when she needed Him most. When her brother, Lazarus, died, she knew Jesus was out healing and ministering to crowds of people. And she, her sister, Mary, and Lazarus were really, really close.
“Lord, if you’d been here.” Martha struggled to understand His allegiance. As a duty-driven woman, she must have struggled to understand Jesus’ priorities and lack of urgency. But ultimately, her underlying question was, “Jesus. Do you really care?”
So I ask again: How do you struggle with your faith?
Our team was sitting around the table in a strategy meeting where I heard people say things like, “We’re giving women permission to…” or “We’re inviting women to be honest about…,” and though I know that language well and have used it myself for years, a strong feeling came over me. I finally blurted out:
“NO. No, no. We are not inviting women, or giving them permission to ask the tough questions or to grapple with the hard stuff of faith. It’s necessary! Women need to know at some point, they will wrestle with their faith in God. There’s no way around it, if it’s a real relationship. They must do it.”
Since that meeting, we’ve revised the purpose of this ministry: We raise up women by equipping them to be grounded in Jesus Christ while wrestling with the often uncomfortable intersection of faith, organized religion, and the realities of this world.
Women are frustrated with the Church. And we hear you. Sometimes the Church makes it hard to see Jesus. But sometimes, if we’re honest, it’s not the Church we’re disappointed in. It’s God.
Martha is but one of countless examples of lovers of God who struggled with Him.
So you, dear woman who struggles in one way or another – we are with you. You’re in good, accepting, affirming company.
I’m real because God is so real.
Nancy
P.S. - “A Note From Nancy” has become “Can I Be Candid?”. It’s a place to wrestle with God…together. Look forward to these each month and please reach out with suggestions or questions anytime.