I’ve been reading Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God” (Amazon) (Book website). I’ve made it to chapter 7, where I have been stopped in my tracks.
The passage reads: “Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.”
Honestly, I’m not sure how to respond.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally re-made the commitment to follow the path that God wants to guide me down. It’s been a long-time coming, yet finally came. Now, I’m not sure what that entails, but then that’s probably the point.
Then I read this.
I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t know what God is directing me to do. I haven’t, as of yet, been able to separate the “God-Dreams” from the “everything else”. Still working on that one. This phrase, though, doesn’t make it any easier.
I get that unbelievers are confused by the work of God. That makes sense. If you are not intimately attached to a particular type of work, then that type of work won’t make sense to you. I can wrap my head around that one.
However, this concept that faith is evidenced by our actions, and that our actions may be nonsensical to some, is tough to swallow.
Here, though, is what I do know.
When you are pursued by the love of a relentless God, and you realize that no matter what you have done or where you have been for the last 10 years that God is still in the same place, that is when it doesn’t matter that your act of faith may not make sense. Remember the story of the Prodigal Son? He squandered things away. Wasted a portion of his life. Spent his inheritance. Finally, he decides that it would be better to go back to his father and face the consequences of his blatant disregard for his father’s love. The father’s response isn’t at all what the son expected.
God welcomes us back with arms open.
God restores us to the place we left.
Wait. Let me say that again.
God places us back into our place within the Kingdom.
That is grace.
That demands a response of doing something crazy — having faith.
So, while I don’t know what all this necessarily means, I do know that when you realize the overwhelming relentlessness of the love of God, you have no response other than to do something crazy — live out your faith.
