Romans 1:16-17

Romans 1:16-17
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It's hard to live by faith, especially in this crazy world.  I want something certain, something I can hold on to, something I can look at when it feels like the world is going crazy, something that will grant me a sense of calm in the turbulent waters of life.
  Yesterday, a man fueled by hatred claimed four random lives in a city I lived and loved.  It seems senseless, and I will never grasp what drives people to such acts of violence.  It's scary, whether it happens in Chattanooga or Cairo, and it seems so unfair.  It makes me want to hide away, and I wonder what is wrong with the world.  I want the violence to stop.
  In times like this, I try and find some explanation, or some thing that will give me certainty in this crazy world.  I never seem to find it, but I manage to push fearful thoughts deep into my mind, the questions deep into my heart, until the next event brings it all to the surface again.
  This world is broken, torn apart by sin and brokenness and chaos and disorder, and only Christ can truly set things right.  I want certainty in this life, but I feebly try and put my trust in him, in the hopes that his Word will continue to be trustworthy and true, and the peace I rapidly chase is the peace he promises, the peace we find only in him, the rest into which we will enter.
  Until that time, he charges us to keep busy loving and serving a world that can be scary and intimidating.  He calls us to trust in him, and let that trust conquer our fear, and he challenges us to live by faith, even though that faith often cannot be seen or touched in moments of uncertainty.  Trust, he says, and we'll endure, day by precious day.