The popular Christian understanding is that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). On this point I do not disagree. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) By faith we yearn for Christ's return, the fulfillment of all Scripture, and a coming eternity without sin or pain.  So what merit is there to walk by sight? For the anxious (yours truly) there is a tendency to conjure various untruths about what's not there, unleashing a type of paranoia. A downward spiral ensues, often accompanied by a sea of unproductive thoughts. Taking clear stock of reality is necessary to stem these fears. Separate fact from fiction. Refrain from entertaining what's not there. Cling to Scripture as truth. Cycling through these reminders keeps me grounded and choosing faith (oddly, as I walk by sight). 

Certainly, the outstanding point to be made here is that of faith. And when faith ultimately gives way to sight, what a glorious realization that will be!

The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the grand jury's decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot him has sparked an outrage that begs the question - is it justice we prize, or satisfaction?

To have justice there must be fairness. We live in a world that is incredibly unfair since the introduction of sin in Genesis 3. Much can be said about the unfairness of the entire Ferguson situation from both sides. It's unfair that an innocent shop owner was robbed. It's unfair that we have racial prejudice. It's unfair that a police officer felt threatened for his life. It's unfair that a life is now gone.

There isn't a satisfying resolution to this situation. A young black man is dead, and an officer's life is irreversibly altered. A community is in outrage. The Ferguson incident stands as a reminder that we as humans are inevitably flawed.

We want justice, but we know that we won't ever live in an entirely just world. So we seek satisfaction - a substitute for true justice, which will only be had when sin is finally done away with.

Our restlessness needs to be channeled towards faith. Our longing for our Savior's return ought to burn ever more greatly. Come, Lord Jesus!

As a child, I was always the youngest in my class - just as I turned another year older, everyone was turning the next year older. And so I was perpetually behind, helpless to do anything about it. As an adult I realize that I have a similar obsession with time. I still feel I'm behind my peers in the so-called progression of life. If you had told me ten years ago where I'd be in life, I would have been despondent that time would not have revealed more. There is another sense of time that occupies my heart in a completely different way. It's the sense that eternity exists, and that this linear progression through life is indeed headed somewhere. God, who is atemporal, is completely outside of time, yet reveals himself throughout the thread of human history. He has made everything beautiful in its time, and I persist knowing that what God does endures forever. He can be trusted! Amen.