Mother Teresa's Perseverance of Faith

I was watching the Today Show yesterday and during a segment they introduced a new book entitled, "Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the 'Saint of Calcutta.'" This book publishes many letters she wrote during her lifetime to colleagues and friends and it seems that the overall theme of the letters was her struggle with her faith. In one letter, she actually writes, "What do I labour for? If there be no God, there can be no soul, if there is no Soul then Jesus You also are not true."

While part of me feels that this book is a good example for those that struggle through the dark night of the soul, I also feel that the media and those that take every opportunity they can find to knock down religion are going to use this as an excuse to say that even someone like Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life to God, did not believe but spent her life pretending.

The truth is that we all struggle. When Paul wrote in Ephesians that our struggle is not against human forces, but the forces of evil, he was 100% right. While we're here on earth, we will go through things that will severly test our faith. The enemy is subtle and effective at making us believe that God has abandoned us and He is not faithful, but like all things that truly matter and are important, we need to continue the daily struggle with our faith.

The call to follow God is NOT something that comes easily. Day after day we need to renew our dedication and our belief that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and by no other name shall we have eternal life. Some days we are on fire and we feel the Holy Spirit with us constantly, while other days we feel so alone and wonder why God has abandoned us. This is why Paul and the other writers of the New Testament constantly warned us about the importance of staying steadfast through these trials, because they happen to all of us. The 1st letter of Peter, chapter 2 says, "Thus will your faith be tested, like gold in a furnace, gold, however, passes away but faith, worth so much more, will bring you in the end praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears." He even goes on to say, "you are reaching the goal of your faith: the salvation of your souls."

So when you struggle with your faith, do not think you are alone because even the most holy people that walked the earth like Mother Teresa had the same doubts. Although her written words expressed doubt, the works of her hands expressed the most amazing faith in God. Someone that does not believe in God would never live the life that she lived or give so much of herself to those that society chooses to turn a blind eye to. If she did not believe, she would have given up her work decades ago instead of picking up her cross each day. She chose to believe that the Lord Almighty is her God and that Jesus Christ is her savior and she perservered in the faith to the very end.

My prayer is that all those that hear about this book and her struggles choose to see her as an example of someone who said yes to God every day of their lives despite doubts and adversity, instead of using this champion of the faith as another excuse to say God does not exist.