Holy Fools

by | Mar 9, 2023 | 2015 | 0 comments

(Read Genesis 12:1-5)
“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes “(Mark 9:23).

When God spoke to Abram, he obeyed at once, departing for an unknown land based only on a promise.  Childless, he trusted God to make of him a “great nation” (Genesis 12:2).

God often does his work through “holy fools” – dreamers who strike out in ridiculous faith. Yet I tend to approach my decisions with calculation and restraint.

My church in Chicago once scheduled an all-night vigil or prayer during a major crisis. At length we discussed the practicality of the event before finally putting it on the calendar. The poorest members of the  congregation, a group of senior citizens from a housing project responded most enthusiastically. I wondered how  many of their prayers had gone unanswered over the years, yet they showed a childlike trust in the power of prayer. “How  long do you want to stay – an hour or two?” we asked, thinking of van shuttles. “Oh, we’ll stay  all night,” they replied.

One woman in her 90s explained. “We can pray. We got time, and we got faith. Some of us don’t sleep much anyway. We can pray all night if needs be.” And so they did.

Meanwhile a bunch of yuppies in a downtown church learned an important lesson. Faith often occurs when least expected and falters where it  ought to thrive.

Philip Yancey
Faith looks across the storm – it does not doubt
Or stop to look at clouds and things  without
Faith does  not question why when all His ways
Are hard to understand, but trusts and prays
PRAYER IS THE VOICE OF FAITH
Anon

Reprinted with kind permission of RBC Ministries

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