God is the hero. We are observers.

Hebrews 11:1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. The Message

It's our handle on what we cannot see...

Everyone I know goes through things that do not make sense. A child who refuses to stop acting up and now faces a judge where she will answer for her misdeeds. A medical diagnosis without a clear outcome. Addiction. Mental health challenges. The pandemic. So much does not make sense in this world. If we are going to find meaning and purpose in it, we will need to get a handle on what lies beneath the obvious distress and chaos of the world we live in today.

Heroes of the faith are often surprising and unlikely folks who God chooses for reasons beyond my comprehension. So it is possible, I reason, that the kid who is going to have to explain to a judge why he did such a dumb a** thing might also one day...any day now...be plucked out of the sea of humanity by God to do something heroic. I of course do not count on this, but I NEVER discount it either.

This is not toxic positivity - no one will ever accuse me of being too positive! This is simply my experience with God. The news is not all good. It does not mitigate the defeats and discouragement of living in a world where none of us lives up to our potential all of the time or even most of the time. We're a messy mix - just like all those heroes we've been studying in Hebrews 11. That same kid is as likely to go out and do another dumb thing three days before he is due to get off probation for the previous dumb thing he did. This is life with humans.

It turns out that being godly does not equal getting what we want or even hope for. At the conclusion of Hebrews 11, it says this: Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours. (verses 39-20, The Message)

I wish that all our prayers had happy outcomes. I know now, at my advanced age, that prayer is not about getting what I ask for. It is about acknowledging that I am not God. And that "God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours."

I pray daily that the someones I know who are caught up in addiction would go to treatment and find healing. But that is not always the outcome. So here's what we do. Maybe we help the spouse with the small children who have lost their primary breadwinner to SUD. Maybe when there is a crisis we care where we can in very practical ways - without having to craft a snappy and perky response to suffering or explain the circumstances in ways that somehow make God sounds like only good things come to those who pray - because that is NOT TRUE. We cannot cure all diseases or solve all the problems, but we can babysit, bring food, help someone navigate this crazy world with support. Does any of this answer our specific prayers? Does it keep our kid out of juvie? No, sadly, it may not. But by faith, the kingdom of God is here amongst us...God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

We believe in God when we believe in his plan - that our faith comes together to make one completed whole - our lives are not complete without being part of the lives of others. It is just that simple and hard. This is what makes us heroic. This is how we know that we are living full lives of meaning and purpose. We are NOT heroic because we get everything right, we are heroic because we trust in things we do not see and keep showing up for others so that their faith and ours can come together to make a completed whole. This takes courage; fortitude; hard work; sacrifice...all. the. things. But this is what heroes look like. May you find a way to be heroic today!