Forging Unshakeable Faith

About the Book

"How can you say God is faithful?" I asked Mindy. For in one week, she lost her mother, boyfriend, job, and roommate. Then, among several other crises, counseling revealed her stepfather had molested her as a young child. Mindy's cumulative Holmes-Rahe score for stress easily exceeded 100. Yet with peaceful hope in her voice she answered, "Because He is."

Everyone, though perhaps less dramatically, faces tragedies. And Mindy, through hers, taught me that how one perseveres through them depends a great deal on one's perspective-what one believes. Mindy knew she wasn't alone, because she understood that no matter what happened, God was with her. She knew it within her very core of being-her faith was unshakeable.

Mindy didn't give a particular reason for her faith. Apparently, over time God had proven Himself in the small things. Great faith doesn't necessarily come from one awe-inspiring event, but through a multitude of little lessons learned along the way.

However, even though many find inspiration in the lives of others; most, also, require objective evidence. Indeed, this type of evidence continues to grow with numerous discoveries regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls, history, astronomy, and archeology, among others. Thus, this book examines how this information can help forge the kind of faith Mindy has-the unshakeable kind.

About the Author

When I was young I couldn?t read, and though I learned as an adult that ear infections had partially impaired my hearing, I had already formed the mindset that I was always behind schedule. So I looked to success to compensate, and even created my own code of honor based on love, wisdom, and strength. I worked ever harder, yet inside I fell into a joyless pit of failure. However I suppressed those feelings until the summer of 1987, when I was finishing my second year of medical school?for some reason I decided to pray. I asked God to reveal if He existed and to tell me who Jesus was. Perhaps seeds of faith somehow planted during my childhood some twenty years earlier had slowly begun to germinate.

Strangely enough it wasn?t more than an hour or so when I heard knocking at my front door. To my astonishment, three Christian men met me and proceeded to tell me about Jesus. I didn?t mention my earlier request, though I was amazed at the coincidence. I even went so far as to pray the ?sinner?s prayer? with them, asking Jesus into my heart.

Then I let time slip by until my surgery clerkship during the fall, when under the trials of sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, and self-doubt, I wondered, ?What the heck am I doing?? I felt compelled to speak to a fellow student and ask him how he was coping, and somehow we began talking about God. The upshot is he persuaded me to go with him and a mutual friend to church.

As the winter of ?87 rolled into ?88, I felt both turbulence and peace, as I became an endless supply of questions, and even though I got answers, they weren?t enough. So, I made a New Year?s Resolution to at least find out what a Christian is. Surprisingly by the last Sunday of January of 1988, the pastor at church gave a call for those wanting to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior?All I had to do was stand and say, ?I believe.?

My many years of empty striving stared at me. In my heart I knew I needed something?I wanted to receive Christ. I wanted to stand up, yet I didn?t. Suddenly it was too late?service was over, and I realized I had missed my chance. As I slowly left church, I looked up and saw an acquaintance, and in a moment, I couldn?t help telling him how I failed to stand. He must have understood, because he immediately welcomed me into God?s family. For a second I was stunned. ?I?m a Christian?? I asked. Then I knew that in my search for success, I had ignored the most important part of me?my soul.

In April of that same year, as a symbol of my new faith I was baptized in water. Yet even more than that, I?d found joy in my journey. I?ve fallen back a few times, faltering in love, wisdom, and strength, but I know God is taking care of my soul. Sometimes I feel I?m not making any headway, but God knew those times would come, and in those moments of doubt He tells me, I?m right on schedule?and so my quest continues?

Life is a journey. What you seek greatly affects what you find. Seek something wonderful.