Friday, May 10, 2013

Invisible God

I have been in a searching and questioning mood recently regarding my faith. When I was browsing in my local library for a book for my devotional times, I espied the Philip Yancey book Reaching for the Invisible God and I quickly grabbed it. So far I have read five of Yancey's books, two were very engaging and thoughtfully written gems (Where is God When When it Hurts?, Prayer - Does it Make any Difference?) and two were more pedestrian efforts (Disappointment with God, The Jesus I Never Knew). However, I can assure you that Searching was a very well written and enjoyable effort. The theme of the book was stated succinctly at the very beginning:

I am not a pastor, but a pilgrim septic with doubt ... I want to identify for myself how a relationship with God truly works, and how it is supposed to work.

Three quotes from the book provided markers along the journey that I appreciated:
  • "We both believe and disbelieve a hundred times an hour, which keeps believing nimble." Emily Dickenson
  • The only thing more difficult than having a relationship with an invisible God is having no such relationship.
  • "Better a little faith clearly won than perish on the splendid plenty of the richest creeds." Henry Drummond
This book was not intended to provide a simple recipe to follow to solidify your faith or to make God show up in your life. It is intended to give you an understanding that you are not alone in your weakness and that periods and seasons of questioning can actually lead to a deeper trust in your relationship with God. I think Yancey is also quite effective in providing some sensible insight into why God interacts with his creation in the manner that He does.