Keep The Tension

Last week while shopping at my local bookstore, a new release caught my eye. The book is in a genre I rarely read, and the story sounded as dull as kindergarten scissors. Still, I picked it up. Before I knew it I’d read 6 pages… then 14.

How had the author lured me into a story I was sure wouldn’t interest me?

Tension.

Subtle opposition haunted each sentence. Dialog revealed the characters’ yearnings for the unattainable. Careful nuance in the setting assured me the plot was strung between the pillars of exquisite despair and triumphant grace.

So if I crave tension in story, why do I try everything I can to resolve it in my Christian walk?

This tension I’m referring to is not strife between individuals, but the felt angst when wrestling with Biblical concepts and this life’s demands.

For example, I know this world is not my home and yet I cling to this life. I fall prey to the lie that something earthly can satisfy the eternal longing God has placed in my heart. My soul is focused on the One I will spend eternity with and yet my fingertips chase click bait across the Internet in search for ways to make my life feel better and last longer.

Or what about the fact that the Bible teaches Jesus is fully God and fully man? A non-Christian acquaintance once verbally harpooned me because I couldn’t convince him it was true. I felt I should’ve been able to, as though a witty explanation could resolve this centuries-old theological tension.

And how about this one: in John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” yet I live in an intolerance intolerant society that calls me a hater if I repeat my Savior’s words. How can I make the tension go away when my unsaved friends say my salvation in Christ is simply my truth and they have their own truth? I can’t.

And I shouldn’t try.

I’m not called to ease the tension. I’m called to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). I’m called to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him (Col. 1:10) and to honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in me (1 Peter 3:15). But the tension that comes with living in a fallen world while waiting for a perfect eternity… that tension is best left unresolved.


Why Some Tension is Best Left Unresolved by Keely Brooke Keith first appeared on Grace and Faith 4 U, June 2015.