Several weeks ago my husband and I met a man who claimed to be a fire walker. It was fascinating hearing his story. He had been an alcoholic and a drug addict and fire walking saved his life. He didn’t consider himself a member of any church, but he definitely believed in God. He felt that it was spirituality and love that allowed him to walk on the hot coals. He didn’t believe that faith in God had anything to do with it, but he shared that others thought it was their faith that allowed them to do it. It was a very interesting discussion. He mentioned how someone who got burnt would be able to cross back over the coals when they would forgive themselves for it and on the other side, the burns would be gone.
This caused me to remember an experience I had one day when I was in a lot of pain. To help me through it, I reminded myself of the purpose of life - to gain experience and so at that point, I thanked God for the painful experience I was going through. I noticed shortly thereafter that the pain was gone.
When I got home from the firewalker's home, I looked up fire walking on the internet and found several websites that talked about the science behind it. Apparently, it’s not so miraculous, although there are some guidelines that need to be adhered to in order to not get burnt. You can do a Google search if you want to know more about it.
The interesting thing to me is that doing something like fire walking can make a huge difference in the life of someone who has lost control of himself. He was addicted to drugs and wanted desperately to be free from them but felt helpless to do so until he was introduced to fire walking. It gave him the confidence he needed to change his life for the better. Now he is teaching this skill and helping others.
What would happen to this man if he found out that what he is doing isn’t as miraculous as he thought it was? Would he go back to his drugs? Or would the change be a permanent change? I would hope it would be a permanent change as he found out what life could be without the chains of drug addiction.
What about those of us who love God and whose lives are made beautiful and even miraculous because of our faith in Him and in His Son? What would happen to us if we found out that God is not real and that the Bible truly is myth? What happens to the miracles that we have seen in our lives because of our faith? Would we ever be able to see miracles again? What would happen to our faith?
The longer I live, the more I discover there is to learn. Many things that seemed miraculous to people years ago, like a match causing fire, a camera being able to make a picture of a person, planes being able to fly. These were miracles to those who didn't know the science behind it. I think it will be very interesting when we learn the science of how Jesus was able to walk on water. I am learning that our minds are very powerful. In general, if we believe we can't do something, we usually can't. If we believe we can do something, we often can. Our beliefs are very powerful. In the scriptures it says that by faith the worlds were made. So if it takes faith to create a world, then it seems that faith is one of the most powerful things that we should develop while in this earthly existence.
At those times when my faith is strongest, I feel wonderful! I feel so happy and confident. I feel like I can do anything the Lord wants me to do. My inhibitions and fears go away and everything seems possible. I feel joyful and peaceful at those times. But occasionally, when I first wake up in the morning, I feel sad. I still have my faith in God to help me get over the sadness quite quickly, but when I think about the reasons for my sadness, I have to cry a bit first. I have loved ones who have rejected me along with my faith. I don't know what to do about it. They want me to stop doing the things that bring me the greatest happiness, like talking about the gospel, bearing my testimony, posting faith based things on Facebook. What would happen to me if I stopped doing those things? Those things that make me the happiest? I stopped for a little while, but didn't feel good about it.
But if I want a relationship with them, it seems that's what I need to do. Would that really make them happier when they sense that I'm not happy giving up the things that bring me the most happiness? Sharing my faith is how I show love, because I want others to feel the joy that I feel. But they don't feel the joy I feel. They don't believe what I believe, and I guess I just keep reminding them of what they have given up. Is there a way for us to just love each other unconditionally? I love them unconditionally, but they don't feel it. I would love to have a relationship with them once more, but is it possible? Is our relationship destined to just be awkward as we avoid any mention of the things that mean the most to us? I hope the day will come when we can talk about the things that mean the most to us without feeling threatened, to be able to share our ideas and feelings and try to understand each other without requiring the other one to change who they are and what they believe. I hope it's possible with all my heart. Is it possible?
