Flood of Faith

"Whether we are adults or children, our best memories are usually the sort which, like a tuning fork, strike that resonant chord in our souls.  It's a song we never quite forget and recognize immediately whenever we catch its echo.  We recognize it because it is so full of heartbreaking beauty.  Like deep calling to deep, it is stamped with His imprint; and since we bear His image, the memory is sealed in that deepest, most profound part of us.  Such moments cast soundings and plumb the real depths of who we are."  - Joni Eareckson Tada

Today, I had one of those moments.  The echo penetrated my heart, speaking of Faith.

It's been difficult to perceive the presence of God lately.  I've felt parched and thirsty for His presence... but this little word soaked me today.  Faith.  Through the last months, through the dryness, through the darkness, I have been saturated with a great gift.  Faith.

It wasn't by tenacity that I have hung on.  It wasn't by fierce determination that I've persevered.  It wasn't by the strength of my will that I've refused to give up on God.  Faith.  The gift of God, for the daughter of God.  A priceless treasure pressed firmly into my open and pleading hand, I haven't even realized that five letters have been sustaining me without my permission.

This little word hints at such immense grace... His presence with me expressed generously in one rich syllable... so often carelessly spoken as a command ("you've just got to have faith"), today received as a saturating flood.  This is the gift: the Spirit of Christ in me believes in Christ at work in the world.  Faith.