As I lay in bed one morning recently, I found myself contemplating the topic of faith, which is big among those in religious circles. For all the talk of having faith, we know in Whom we should have faith. However, a troubling question arose quickly thereafter: "Why?" The troubles of life are the same, regardless of one's faith, so I surmised that considering this question might cause us to look more deeply and meaningfully at the events of our lives. Let us move into this contemplation by considering a real-world example.
When one begins his initiation into the Masonic order, he is prepared in a certain way, which includes being blindfolded. The candidate is asked several preliminary questions before the ritual begins. Being that the candidate is going to be led around blindfolded, one of these questions is, appropriately, "In whom do you put your trust?" The candidate doesn't know who's in the room, nor does he know who will be leading him. At first, this question may confuse the candidate, but he is prompted by his conductor to say, "in God." The guide then responds, "Your faith is well founded..." and the ritual continues.
Religion 101 teaches us to place our trust in God, and yet, bad things still happen to good people! In fact, the story of Job shows us that even God Himself may invite difficult troubles into our lives! When we consider this truth, it seems to me that having faith, even in God, is not a complete enough picture. In short, why would we continue to have faith in a God that will almost certainly lead us, on more than one occasion, through the valley of the shadow of death? God wants us to choose Him freely, and not out of duress, so what else can we add to the picture? So, instead of examining faith in Whom, let us consider "faith in what?"
In short, what does faith offer, if it doesn't offer immunity from trouble? And, what is there to faith beyond belief; because after you believe, then what?
Let us consider a pericope from the book of the prophet, Habakkuk. Habakkuk asks the question that many of us ask in the midst of dreadful days and perilous times:
"O LORD, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save!"
As we are seeing more and more today, Habakkuk saw the evildoers of his day getting away with seemingly everything. He lamented (if I may take license to use contemporary vernacular):
"You see what they're doing, and You're letting them get away with it! You are our everlasting God, and yet, this mess continues. Why?"
Indeed, when we see the police killing innocent, unarmed black men and women in the streets and are not even charged, let alone convicted, our cry comes forth. When we see the rich getting richer, and more, we see poor people voting for people and policies that is going to make this disparity (and their poverty) worse, our cry comes forth. When we see wealthy people who are empowered to guarantee their own gold plated health insurance, vote to strip it from millions of their own countrymen, including their own constituents, our cry comes forth. When we see children and grandchildren of immigrants turning a cold shoulder to other immigrants looking for the same opportunity that their own forefathers sought, then the cry comes forth. When we see a whole religion condemned for being savages and terrorists, and yet those so-called believers ignore the savage history of their own religion, including terrorist fires, bombings, and killings that continue to this day, then the cry comes forth!
So, Habakkuk cries and waits for an answer:
"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me."
And, the LORD comes back with the familiar utterance:
"...the Just shall live by his faith."
This is where it gets real, because as a prophet, Habakkuk already believes in and has faith in God. So, it is not the target or source of his faith that is in question. God says, in essence, "Trust me, Habakkuk. I see what's going on, but know that 'the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.'"
As we continue our approach, let us consider another analogy. Have you ever been in a strange city and taken a taxi from the airport to get to your destination? You don't know the driver or the city, and yet, not only do you get in the car, but you pay the driver to take you to a place you've never been!" We just assume this will happen without a hitch, just because he drives a bright yellow car and has his picture on an official looking document. And, of course, this usually goes as expected without incident literally millions of times per day.
Here we are, being forced by circumstances to leave our comfort zones--health issues, surgeries, financial struggles, legal troubles, emotional troubles, family troubles, societal troubles... anything that hurts us is hurting us right now! We could say that circumstances are speaking to us as God spoke to Abraham:
"Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee."
We, like the traveler, have somewhere to get to. We'll know it when we get there, but we don't know what we'll encounter along the path. God is parked at the curb, holding the door open, waiting to take us there. And, many of us, at various points along the way, hesitate; even if we trust God, we don't know what to make of this ache or this pain, or this sadness, or this uncertainty. All of our usual ways of coping are not working as well. All of our previous anchors of faith are not holding as strongly. All of our questions keep piling up. Our dissatisfaction continues to rise. We are increasingly unsettled.
Even if we forget about the injustice in the world, our own foundations are being shaken by our own troubles, and unsettled by our own unanswered questions and unknown future. And, just like God told Habakkuk that the Just shall live by his faith, so too are we being forced to live by ours. Do we trust God (with our life) like we trust the cab driver?? More importantly, do we trust the path that He's leading us on? Do we trust the process of following Him to that Land that He will show us? Do we trust His guidance, even when a thorn along the path painfully rips something dear from our grasp?
Do we have faith in the path even when it veers from the green pastures and still waters into the valleys and shadows of death? Do we have faith in the path when we have to travel over a high bridge or an underground tunnel? Do we have faith in the process when people we love leave our path, and people unknown to us appear on it? Do we have faith in the journey when our source of livelihood becomes insecure, and we're not sure we'll have enough to take care of our needs?
In order to have such faith, we have to let go, truly let go of all that we hold dear, let go of all that we think we know, let go even if we think everything will fall apart, and have faith, not only in God as the Head, but also in the path He leads us on, and in the process of character and consciousness building that we engage in along the path.
So, again, the LORD told Habakkuk, "Trust me. I see what's going on, but know that 'the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.'" We may not understand it now, we may not agree with it now, we may not see the wisdom in it now, but as the old spiritual proclaims, "...we'll understand it better by and by." Thus did the Psalmist, who had experienced the twists and turns of this path leave on record, "Surely, [whether mountain or valley, whether green pastures or shadows of death] goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."
If we have faith, not only in God, but also in His path and in His process, then we can go all the way with the LORD; we can run and not be weary, and we can walk and not faint. Certainly, it is incumbent upon us to do all we can to be righteous and to advocate righteousness, but once we've done all that we can do, have faith in God, His path, and His process.
