"Wesley's Words": Day 11, Lent 2012

"This cannot be faith, for where is your joy?"

John Wesley, a great Anglican preacher, once asked this rather troubling question when he was considering his faith in a new light. Maybe it's a question that you've considered too; I know it creeps up on me when I'm feeling strangely drawn to God but at the same time hesitant because that drawing isn't always via what Wesley called "transports of joy."

I think Lent is a time when we face the difficult reality of keeping faith when joy feels absent, and maybe what that means is joining John Wesley in turning to God and asking very simply and very plainly, "surely this cannot be faith, for where is our joy?" Some days belief is more than a matter of feeling joyful, some days belief is the hope that God is still listening.

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.