Building Altars in the Storm: Remembering Faith Through Life’s Challenges
The storms of life will come; the question is not how bad they will be but who will be by your side in their midst. This week was a busy one, as ever. I decided to write a mid-week post on the tactics and fallout of dating apps and the environment they have created for today’s singles. I listened to the latest presidential debate and followed it up by listening to the Shawn Ryan Show, where I listened to his interviews with Robert F Kennedy, Donald Trump, and later DJ Vance. This political cycle has been a crazy one in many ways, and it can often leave one distracted. So, as I prepared to head out to Austin, I was informed of some very concerning health reports for my sister Eva, and at that moment, a new storm seemed to settle overhead. So, as I drove to Austin, I found myself either silently praying or calling some of my closest friends and asking them to pray for me. I was headed out to Austin to celebrate the marriage of my dear friends Hayden and Luke. And so I am sitting here on another Saturday morning at Tyler and Becca’s home writing this post as they have left to see some family.
And so yesterday, as I rolled into town, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tyler and Becca, celebrating with them, and enjoying an opportunity to share stories of our lives since we had last seen one another. Together, we laughed and joked, and later, Tyler and I enjoyed a lengthy conversation and a cigar. I was again reminded of the power and value of authentic community and friendships during this conversation! As we sat down, we talked about the joys and sorrows of life. We talked, and as we spoke, we could not help but be reminded of how we had first met over three years ago and how God had prompted me in a coffee shop to reach out and speak with him after overhearing a conversation between him and some friends. This had been during a season of frustration and loneliness, and through that singular moment, God-initiated moment, I found the community and friends I now enjoy.
As we spoke and shared the highs and lows of life, the lows suddenly seemed lighter. As we talked and remembered God's faithfulness, we were able to point back to Him and see how He has been faithful to both of us in various ways. So, this post is a sneak peek into what Tyler and I meditated on during our conversation.
The Forgetfulness of Mankind
In the Old Testament, God instructs His people to create alters many times after miraculously saving them. These were not alters of sacrifice but alters set as reminders. These were guideposts of the Israelite people to help them remember the goodness of God in their lives. Because then, as now, God knew that we as human beings tend to quickly forget how and when He has been faithful in our lives. And so God instructed them to create these memorials, these monuments to remind them how faithful and good He had been to them. Because we do so quickly forget Him when the new storms of life come. Like the disciples in the boat, we quickly forget how good He has been. We accuse God of being asleep at the wheel because we are not seeing the results when and how we want.
Yet, as the storms settle often, we can look back and suddenly see a trail of evidence of how God was working in those moments of our lives when we least saw Him. Reflecting on this, I could not help but wonder how I could set up mementos and reminders in my home to help me better remember those moments of faithfulness we so quickly forget. Yet the unfortunate reality is that eventually, that reminder grows dull, and we walk past it so many times that it no longer has the effect it first did. Because we eventually become numb to it, it becomes another space filler, another decorative item on our walls.
In the modern world, many, if not most, of us are always running a thousand miles per hour, never slowing down to reflect on those monuments. So we forget and lose hope not because God has become less faithful but because we have forgotten Him. We are today just as stubborn, just as obstinate as the Israelites of the Old Testament, and so, in my view, I think the solution is simple: slow down enough that you can hear the voice of God and find those quiet moments to remember. As I meditate on this, I am reminded of the story of Elijah.
A mighty man of God, Elijah puts to death four hundred and fifty wicked priests of Baal. After he calls down fire from heaven and sees God do incredible things, he flees for his life as Jezebel puts out a death warrant on his life. And so Elijah flees into the wilderness, filled with fear, and he asks God to just kill him. I have often read that story and think, “Dude, you just called fire from heaven; what the heck.” Then, I think about it from God’s perspective and expect Him to respond similarly. Instead, God responds by tending to Elijah for forty days and forty nights, providing him with food and sleep. Then, after those forty days, God provides a revelation to Elijah in 1 Kings 19.
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
God, with patient love, reveals to Elijah a reality we often forget in our frantic, loud, chaotic lives. God is most often found in the silent moments. As Tyler and I sat down to share the stories of our lives and what we had missed, God spoke through those memories we shared and through the memory of how Tyler and I first met. During this conversation, the storms of life seemed to be dispelled.
Nothing has changed; this storm of life still exists. But when I remember that I have a God whose word alone can calm the storms, the storm is silenced. Our God is so powerful that the storms shutter at the mention of His name. The storms of life shutter and are silenced even at the mention of these memories of His power, goodness, and love for us.
