The Moorings of Heaven
August 5, 2015 | by: Maureen Maniquis | 0 Comments
Posted in: Gospel Living
I’ve often heard it said that faith is a crutch for the weak of heart and mind. To look to God as the navigator through the rough seas and narrow canals is just a vain hope placed in ancient fairy tales and early traditions. I don’t necessarily have a problem with people saying faith is a crutch because at times I am thankful to have my faith to lean on when my legs are feeling a bit shaky. It’s easy to take on water or bump up against the rocks when you are playing captain in the dark. But being captain is empowering and in my experience easier than faith. It’s easier to live with doubts and uncertainties when you feel that you’re in control of your life and destination. You make your choice, you plot your course, your future is in your hands and the decision is yours.
It actually takes a great deal of strength to relinquish the doubts and uncertainties to One that you cannot see. To believe that running aground upon the rocks, listing to the side watching the water pour in has its good purposes, requires a heart of brawn. Faith is not for the weak of heart or mind and it’s not a crutch to prop up the impotent. But faith is also not something you can just muster-up when you need it. Faith is not a bootstrap mentality. Faith is a gift. Faith is something God bestows upon us. We don’t just decide to believe but it is put in us to believe, a supernatural gift and it takes supernatural strength to live it out.
When you live in faith, “ancient fairy tales and early traditions” become lifelines of deep truth given to the faithful as moorings of safe passage; a kind of unobtrusive anchor to the heavens that allows us to move freely yet securely. These ancient texts are full of the living breath of God, and like a fisherman’s net, they are woven through our hearts and minds for sustenance. Though the winds may grow fierce and the waves sweep over us, though our stomachs churn with sickness from the fluid- swells, our shaky hands reach up with a type of instinctual hope to the moorings of heaven’s gracious gift—faith.
Perhaps you have this gift; if so, no doubt you have taken on water somewhere along the voyage and wondered if the moorings had snapped in the storm. The fears rose as high as the waves as you groped for that rope in the dark. But just when you thought you’d lost all hope your hand grasped the frayed edges and you felt a Hand grab back—faith, it is a gift.
If you don’t have this gift, well, the good news is that you just have to ask for it. It is freely given to a seeking heart. This faith voyage is filled with much mystery and uncertainty but in the end the moorings are secure, unsnappable.
“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.” Ephesians 2:7-9 MSG
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Maureen Maniquis moved to Florida 10 years ago from Bern, Switzerland where she and her husband were living for 6 years while working at the American Embassy. While there, they helped plant an English speaking church in the heart of the city that still thrives today to meet the needs of expats who desire to be a part of a community of fellow believers. Maureen has been a part of the Restoration Church Core Team since its plant in 2010 and currently serves on the Hospitality Team and Prayer Team and will be a regular contributor to our blogs. She has published a book of her memoirs and is a passionate writer on Gospel living and pointing people to the heart of Jesus. maureenmaniquis-blog.com
