A week into the break between the spring and summer semesters and I’m confident that no one will ever employ me to be a domestic engineer. An exasperated, “You’re fired, Julie!” would have escaped my lips today if I’d had an alternative, because not only did a glass storage dish escape my grasp while dividing the lasagna for the freezer, but a short time later, a Fragile candy dish slipped from my fingers while dusting. Did you know that broken pieces of glass can fly around corners and land on the other side of the house? Geesh, who knew! On the bright side, I was able to eradicate my bare-footed self safely from the kitchen before grabbing the vacuum, and when the candy dish shattered…well, the vacuum was conveniently in the living room. Two fewer glass dishes to wash, I guess!
Now, I only share this butter-fingers story to illustrate that when the Lord desires to cement a concept in my mind, I’m learning to pay attention. Two days prior while taking my daily stroll through the neighborhood, I was listening to a fascinating message from Andy Stanley where I jotted a note that became the title of this blog, Fragile Faith; I’m currently in the process of reading a thought-provoking book entitled White Fragility; and then today’s episode with the delicate nature of glass dishes might have well been a throat-clearing, “Ahem, Are you paying attention?”
Personally, I’m Just Curious enough to desire to uncover how flourishing people develop the depth of faith that Stanley describes in his message. As referenced in Follow and Fish, we are being challenged to consider a life of faith that moves beyond belief and into action. “Jesus did not invite us to simply believe things about Him or to simply even believe things about God. He invited us into a lifestyle that reflects a deep abiding faith in our Father in heaven, because belief alone, if it just stays right in your head, actually creates a Fragile Faith.” What Stanley describes as a Fragile Faith, can easily happen, when after we make a choice to believe, we take no action that strengthens that faith to grow it into a Flourishing Faith. “If you never learn to activate your faith in the real world, it is akin to an unexercised muscle that gets weaker and weaker.”
Asking me to consider the ways in which I am currently enacting my faith and making it stronger, Stanley is challenging me to ask how am I personally developing a Habit of Resilience—where grit and perseverance unite to establish a faith that is anything but Fragile? A Fragile Faith resembles the glass dishes that shatter into a gazillon pieces when they come into contact with something hard, such as a tile or wood floor. A Flourishing Faith, on the other hand, becomes stronger when coming into contact with hard things. As Stanley offers, “[A Flourishing Faith] helps us maintain a kind of gritty real-world faith. You’ve met people like this, in fact many of you are people like this, but when you meet people like this, especially when they’re going through a difficult time,” they just seem to have a peace and confidence in God that leads to an enduring faith.
Perhaps I will share more on this topic of fragility, specifically the concept of becoming Antifragile in the future, but I want to close today in asking for readers to share in the comments below a time when you were able to witness a Flourishing Faith, a moment when despite the circumstances, an enduring faith emerged. (Consider looking into a friend’s amazing journey of faith: #bravelikebrett).
References:
Stanley, A. (2021, May 9). Pre-Decide Part 5. Faith Full Series. North Point Community Church. [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from https://northpoint.org/messages/faith-full/pre-decide
Flourishing @ Life 
Answer to your question– A few months back, an acquaintance of mine shared about her friend whose husband had been in a car accident and did not make it. I immediately got on FB to find this lady and see how she was doing in the midst of such loss. The couple had been married for 10 years and had 2 daughters under the age of 4. I felt compelled to see if she remained silent on FB or shared her grief– mostly curious because I just can’t imagine experiencing such tragedy. To my surprise, she was not silent nor shared her grief. She used FB to call all her brothers and sisters in Christ to pray that God would do a miracle (the same miracle He did for Lazarus) and bring her husbands bones back to life. She declared God’s promises as her own. She asked everyone to come into agreement. She used each day leading up to the funeral to raise a banner before the Lord asking and believing for a miracle.
I was disappointed to see people be ugly. To call her crazy. To say she just needed to accept the truth that her husband was dead. People can be so cruel.
God did not raise her sweet husband back to life, but she did not allow that to shatter her faith. Instead she shared that a few months before her husband had passed away that she had a miscarriage of a precious baby boy. The Holy Spirit whispered to her one evening that her husband was not gone, but simply living his best life with their son in heaven. From that day on she agreed that even though it hurt to have him gone, she cherished her dreams of seeing her husband and son walking down the streets of gold together, worshiping their Creator!
WHAT A STORY! A story of such tragedy, such faith, and such love. Oh what a glorious day it will be when they are reunited!
I share this story with tears running down my face, because I often get frustrated when I’m waiting in a long line, or my food isn’t hot, or I have a flat tire. I’m sure she’d be willing to wait in long lines or eat cold food for the rest of her life if it meant she could tangibly hold her son and husband again. Lord, thank you for the reminder that you are so much bigger than my earthly dissatisfactions. You are coming back again and in the mean time, I choose to be a Kingdom builder to those around me!
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I really enjoyed this post. It reminded me a lot of my older sister. Shortly after her first child was born, it became evident that something was wrong. Before she was even a year old, her daughter was diagnosed with an immune deficiency. This diagnosis completely changed their family’s whole life. Then a few years later, COVID happened. This not only caused more stress but fear for my sister and her family. In a situation like this I can’t imagine where my faith would be. Instead, my sister only grew stronger in her faith. She has channeled her stress and fear into taking to the Lord daily. Her unwavering faith and trust in the Lord has been such an example and a witness to others. I’m so thankful for my sister and her true testament to flourishing faith in a situation where she could have been so fragile in her faith.
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I enjoyed reading this post and it reminded me of how a mentor dealt with a miscarriage resulting in a D&C procedure. She first posted to Facebook about the miscarriage only a day after it happened. In her post, she spoke of the grief and loss she was feeling but comfort in knowing her baby is in heaven with Jesus and that God’s plans and timing are perfect. She posted a couple of days later describing how God brought their baby forth in one whole body, something she said the medical staff had never seen. before. They were able to hold their baby, pray over her, and lay her body to rest in a peaceful place they can visit. She wrote of our good God and miracle worker, who has a better plan and how all this happened for a purpose. A week later, she posted again to announce the name they had chosen for their baby girl and the “why” the Lord showed them. The first name they chose was Charolette which they later found out means free, a fitting description indeed. She states that although they wish she was with her family and the hurt is so heavy, she knows “beyond a shadow of a doubt that our great God is still using her life to bring Him glory.” About a month later, they started a go fund me account to raise money for a room for those waiting to have a D&C procedure, called The Charolette Room, as a way to keep their baby girl’s name alive and provide hope, peace, and resources to those patients.
Reading each of her posts, had me teary eyed and in shock at how much grace and faith she had after all that she had just gone through. I couldn’t comprehend how she found it within herself to process, beautifully write, and share such intimate and heartfelt moments with everyone. I how one day to have such unwavering faith in the face of so much grief, hurt, and pain.
Ironically, a couple of months before this happened, she reshared a post about Brett and added the #bravelifebrett filter to her Facebook profile picture.
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