The Tension Where Truth Lives

The Weight Between Words With Pastor Charles Howse

WHY TENSION IS NOT THE ENEMY OF FAITH

life between the lines by Pastor Charles Howse

Most of us were taught — directly or indirectly — that faith should resolve tension.

If there is discomfort, we rush to explanation.

If there is conflict, we search for language that smooths it over.

If there is silence, we fill it.

But I’ve come to believe something different.

Tension is not the enemy of faith.

Avoidance is.

Some of the most honest moments in my spiritual life have not come when answers were clear, but when they were complicated. When faith required patience instead of certainty. When obedience meant staying present rather than moving on.

Tension is where discernment develops.

Faith that has never been stretched often confuses certainty with maturity. We learn phrases. We inherit answers. We repeat language that sounds faithful but has never been tested by lived experience.

That kind of faith is fragile.

It doesn’t know what to do with contradiction.

It doesn’t know how to sit with pain.

And it often mistakes discomfort for danger.

But faith that has been forced to wait…

to listen…

to wrestle…

That faith has weight.

One of the quiet problems in modern Christianity is how quickly we rush people past what they’re still trying to understand. We offer closure where formation is needed. We provide language before discernment has finished its work.

In doing so, we rob people of the very process that deepens faith.

God is not threatened by unresolved questions.

Truth does not disappear in tension.

And faith does not collapse because it refuses to rush.

This blog exists because I’ve learned to trust the space between words.

The pause.

The hesitation.

The unresolved place where easy answers feel dishonest.

I don’t write here to provoke or persuade.

I write to remain present with what deserves more time.

If you’ve ever felt pressured to “move on” before understanding…

If you’ve ever been handed answers that didn’t honor your experience…

If you’ve ever sensed that something mattered too much to rush…

You’re not losing your faith.

You may be deepening it.

Published by

Charles Howse Jr
Pastor Charles E. Howse Jr. is a preacher, pastor, and author whose calling lives at the intersection of proclamation and reflection. With decades of ministry experience, he has spent his life speaking to the visible struggles of people while gently naming the quieter battles they carry within. His voice is shaped by Scripture, lived experience, and a deep pastoral concern for those navigating faith, failure, leadership, and the long work of healing. Whether from the pulpit or the page, his work consistently points readers and listeners back to the grace of God that meets us where we truly are. Through writing, Pastor Howse explores the tension where truth lives—the space between certainty and doubt, strength and vulnerability, public faith and private wrestlings. His reflections draw from biblical narratives, personal insight, and pastoral observation, inviting readers to slow down,and think deeply. He writes not to perform, but to bear witness—to grace that restores, love that endures, and a God who remains faithful even when we falter. This blog is an extension of that calling: honest, thoughtful, and rooted in the hope that truth still heals.

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