The Pastor’s Piece – Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

Village

May 10, 2026

There are moments in life when faith feels steady, when everything seems clear, and trusting and God comes naturally. In those seasons, belief feels uncomplicated. Circumstances may not be perfect, but they are manageable, and confidence in God feels secure. But there are also times when that confidence begins to weaken. Not because we have rejected faith, but because life becomes difficult to reconcile with what we believe. Prayers seem to go unanswered. Circumstances do not improve. Waiting stretches longer than expected. And over time, a quiet question begins to form: Is God really doing what He said He would do?

Most people do not voice that question out loud. It lingers beneath the surface. It shows up in hesitation, in uncertainty, and sometimes in a growing gap between what we say we believe and what we actually feel. When that happens, the issue is no longer just emotional, it becomes deeply spiritual. Because we are no longer simply dealing with circumstances; we are wrestling with trust. So the real question becomes this: What does it look like to have a faith that holds when life doesn’t?

The answer begins with a shift in perspective. The strength of faith is not found in how firmly we hold on to God, but in how firmly we are held by Him. That distinction moves the focus away from our instability and places it on God’s unchanging character. This is where faith becomes real. What we are dealing with is not abstract theology, but something that speaks directly into the experience of doubt. It appears in quiet moments and honest conversations. It surfaces when someone admits, “I don’t feel like my prayers are accomplishing anything,” or “I’m not sure God is responding,” or even, “I’m not sure I can trust this anymore.” These are not theoretical concerns; they are deeply personal struggles. And Scripture responds in a surprising way. The Bible does not say, “Try harder to believe,” or “Work up more faith.” It does not place the burden on human effort. Instead, it points us in a different direction.

The answer is this: God has never spoken anything untrue. The issue is not whether God’s promises are reliable. The real question is whether we are willing to anchor ourselves to what is already certain. According to Hebrews 6:18, it is impossible for God to lie. Truth is not just something He speaks, it is His very nature. For God to lie would mean ceasing to be Himself, and that is impossible. This is why believers are given “strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us,” (also Hebrews 6:18). God is not trying to prove that He is trustworthy. He is showing us that He has always been trustworthy. Faith, then, is not a leap into the dark. It is a response to a God who has already spoken in the light.

Hope as “an anchor of the soul,” (Hebrews 6:19). This is not a decorative idea, it is deeply practical. An anchor exists to hold steady when everything else is shifting. And that is exactly what we need. Because life is unstable. Emotions rise and fall. Circumstances change without warning. Anxiety often grows when what we feel begins to override what God has said. This hope is not fragile. It is not temporary. It is fixed. And the reason it holds is because of where it is anchored. Hebrews 6:19 tells us that this hope goes “behind the curtain” – into the presence of God. And there stands Jesus Christ, our forerunner and our great High Priest. He has already gone where we are going.

That changes everything. It means your hope is not something you are trying to hold onto in the present moment. It is already secured in the place where your life is headed. The anchor does not rest in your circumstances; it is fixed in the unchanging presence of God, where Christ stands for you. That is why it holds.

Still, a question remains: if our hope is anchored in heaven, why do we feel so unstable here on earth? The answer is that we often confuse the location of our hope with the experience of our emotions. The stability of your hope is not determined by how steady you feel, but by where your hope is fixed. According to Hebrews, it is not anchored in your circumstances, your progress, or your feelings. It is anchored in the presence of God. That means your hope is secure, even when it feels uncertain. You may feel overwhelmed or unsettled. You may feel like everything is shifting. But none of that changes where your hope is anchored. That is the point. An anchor only works if it is fixed somewhere more stable than the boat. In this case, the anchor of the soul is fixed in heaven,where nothing shifts or fails.

So why do we still feel unstable? It’s because we measure reality by what we feel instead of what God has established. The answer is to remember where your hope actually is – not in you, not here, but in Christ. And because He is already there, your future is not uncertain. It is already secure. And God has not changed. You are not holding everything together. You are being held by a God whose word cannot break, whose purpose cannot change, and whose Son has already secured your future.

And that is why faith holds even when life doesn’t.

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin)