“The Beautiful Tension: Living in the Paradox of Faith”

“The Christian life is a life of faith in the midst of paradox. It is the art of holding tension without breaking.” — Jenn Pollock Michel, Surprised by Paradox

📖 Scripture:

2 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV)"…as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."

🪞 Devotional Thought:

There is a divine tension threaded through every part of our Christian faith. We worship a King who wore a crown of thorns, and follow a Savior who conquered death by dying. We are told to love our enemies, give to those who take, and rejoice in trials. These aren’t contradictions; they are paradoxes—truths that seem opposite, yet hold together in the mystery of God's wisdom.

Jenn Pollock Michel writes, “Paradox is the tension between two seemingly opposing truths—and yet, in God’s kingdom, it is precisely in that tension that transformation begins.” Christianity is not about escaping the mess and mystery of life, but entering it with faith in a God who makes sense of it all.

We long for clarity, but God often gives us Christ. He doesn't always answer our questions—He embodies the answer.

"Truth is not merely a set of logical propositions, but a Person." — Ravi Zacharias

Ravi often reminded us that God doesn't remove all mystery. Instead, He invites us into a relationship with the One who transcends it. The paradox is not to be solved but to be surrendered to, because God is not a puzzle to solve but a presence to trust.

In the incarnation, God became man. In the crucifixion, death birthed life. In our suffering, we find strength. In our surrender, we find freedom. Only God could author such a story.

As Augustine once said, “If you comprehend it, it is not God.” The paradox of faith humbles the intellect and stirs the soul toward wonder.

🔍 Deeper Theological Insight:

Theologians throughout the centuries have acknowledged that God is both immanent and transcendent, just and merciful, sovereign and relational. The paradox isn't a flaw in our faith—it's a fingerprint of the divine.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in The Cost of Discipleship, wrote: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Yet it is in dying that we truly live. Every day as disciples, we are invited into death to self, and yet it's through that very death that resurrection life begins.

This is the great mystery of the Gospel:Weakness is strength. Loss is gain. Emptiness is fullness.

💡 Final Reflection:

Today, embrace the mystery. Don’t rush to fix the tension—faith often lives where logic stops. The cross is the ultimate paradox: brutal and beautiful, unjust and redemptive. And it’s there, in that tension, that we find the God who knows what He’s doing.

Only God can make sense of life under the sun. Trust Him with what you don’t understand.

“The paradoxes of Christianity are not problems to be solved, but doors to be entered.” — Jenn Pollock Michel