On a recent holiday I saw the well-known quote by American author, poet and activist, Maya Angelou, on the wall of the flat in which we were staying: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”. A phrase like this can be considered cliché, but this one strikes me as something important, especially in our spiritual life.

 

The message of the Bible takes my breath away every time I hear it, but this is seemingly and unfortunately not true for everybody. During the past few weeks, I read quite a lot of letters in different newspapers from people who are very much against all forms of religion. They are not only against the Christian faith, but against anybody who believes in a God at all.

 

After reading many of these letters, I felt quite dejected. So many people are choosing atheism as the new “faith”. To them it is very liberating not to believe in God. The style that some of these writers use makes me think they look down on us, because to many, it is old fashioned to still believe in God.

 

Struggling to come to grips with this way of thinking, I realised that I will never be able to believe that there is no God. To me the message of the Bible about God, who he is and what he does, still takes my breath away. Looking at the world around us and even those who are disdainful of our faith, we know without a shadow of a doubt that even if the whole world were against us, God will always be for us. Does it not take your breath away?

 

Prayer: We thank you Lord that we know you are on our side, even when the whole world may be against us. Amen