김한요 목사
“믿음으로 아브라함은 부르심을 받았을 때에… 갈 바를 알지 못하고 나아갔으며”(히 11:8) 이 말씀을 읽는 순간, 스트레스였습니다. 그러나 아브라함은 아무도 가지 않은 길, 모르는 길을 믿음이라는 여행사를 통해 근심 걱정 내려놓고 갔습니다. 매일 아침 일어나면 어느 길로 가야 할지, 무엇을 먹을지, 어디서 잘 지를 걱정하기보다는 아브라함처럼 갈 바를 알지 못했지만, 믿음이라는 여행 가이드와 함께 한 걸음씩 올 한 해를 걸어 왔습니다. 지난주, 베델 목회자들이 모여 내년 계획을 위해 함께 머리를 맞댔지만 어떤 일이 우리를 기다리고 있을지 여전한 막막함에 염려가 앞섰습니다. 그럼에도 우리 교회를 인도하실 주님을 굳게 믿고 12월도, 1월도 한 걸음씩 뚜벅 뚜벅 걸어가렵니다.
Faith is Our Guide
Rev. Bryan Kim
As soon as Year 2020 began, it was not a normal year because of Coronavirus. Now, we have approached the last month of the year. It was an unbelievable year. We have spent a year, with fear mixed with expectations, on a road that we have never traveled before. When we usually travel, we don’t leave until we have a destination, finish plans, and gather all the information. Especially, I cannot leave until I know my destination ahead of time. The lurking feeling of danger makes me uptight instead of enjoying the road. Ironically, my tendency has become worse since navigation devices became available. Since a navigation device gives accurate direction when destination is entered, I become curious for more details. In the old days, I think we drove more carefree without worries when we drove with a map book, checking for each road sign number. Since there was no way of knowing whether there is traffic jam, an accident, or road construction…we had to solve each issue as we approached them. However, now there are a lot of things we can check with smart phone. We used to just go to a restaurant when we saw one, but now we look for good tasting places and read all the reviews before going. When traveling far, we have to check for accommodation. For those who are burdened by this task, a travel agency is used for planning and scheduling as a way of worry-free travel. I think there are two ways to enjoy traveling. One way is the fun of discovering the unknown as you approach them, and the other is to confirm every places ahead of time as you travel to your next destination. I fall into the second way, and I was challenged by Abraham as I thought about ‘faith’.
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called … And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”(Heb 11:8) The moment I read this, it was stress. Although Abraham did not know where he was going, he was able to go without worries and fear entrusting a travel agency called faith. Like Abraham who didn’t know where he was going, instead of worrying each day about where we are going, what we will eat, or where we will sleep, I think we have walked each step of this year with a travel guide called faith. Last week our pastoral staff put our heads together to plan for next year. We are worried about what might await us, but with faith in our Lord who will lead our church, we will walk through December and January by taking one step at a time.