It can easy for us to say we have faith or that we believe that you are love, but it's often much more difficult for us to actually live that out in everyday life.
Sometimes it's difficult to have faith that you are love when we see the brokenness within and around ourselves. It is easy for us to forget that this brokenness is not the last truth about the world, but only the next to last truth.
Other times we reflexively say "God's in control" or "just have faith." But brokenness scares us to death, perhaps because it reminds us of how we are broken in so many ways. So to avoid confronting the harsh realities of suffering or to distance ourselves from responsibility for the lostness and madness of the world, we hide behind a mask of certainty.
But faith isn't either of those things, so we come asking for forgiveness. Help us to have true faith; to believe that in the end your love wins while also realistically acknowledging the existence of suffering
and being willing to travel alongside of all who are hurting, struggling, abused, oppressed and neglected.
Faith is supposed to be the eye of our hearts, but we often struggle to see that way. Forgive us for when we only pay lip service to the truth that you are love and don't allow that to affect our thinking, actions or decisions.
Amen
