“Are you there, God?” That’s a question asked again and again in scripture and in the stories of our time - like teen fiction! Because it’s a question most of us can relate to.

Doubt is a hand being raised by your heart and head saying, “Hello from in here! Can we talk with you, because we have some concerns?”

Vulnerability is risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. So, doubt, like vulnerability, is hard to feel. But if that hard (and heart) feeling place is also the birthplace of joy, love, belonging, faith, all the good stuff, then don’t we need to pay attention to our doubts?

The thing is my friend, you were made for such a time as this (cf. Esther). And you have exactly what you need to pastor and preach and plan and lead, right now.

The big events, the ones where there is a before and an after, rarely play out exactly as we anticipate. Because we are expert at creating future realities in our minds. Setting internal expectations and believing what we dream of and plan for will come to pass in the ways we imagine.

You and I and the people we serve are part of a larger story. We have our resolve. We make our plans. We believe we are determining our future. But then, God breaks in. God shows us a sign on a road or in a dream. God asks us to walk towards people and communities it would be easier to walk away from. Because the circumstances present challenges that seem impossible to overcome.

I’m not entirely sure what it means to “gain our soul” but I know what it means to speak from it. May we be prompted to do that! Share our enduring stories of strength and hope to encourage all of us.