Faith: not for the faint of heart or mind.

I love it when I have a light-bulb moment.  It is that instant when something that was confusing me finally makes sense.  It happened a lot in school, especially math, when a seemingly impossible-to-solve problem had an understandable and replicable solution.  

I’m not a numbers guy.  I’m a words guy.  But I still enjoyed learning how manipulating numbers, collecting data from not-so-obvious implications, and learning the “rules” of mathematics empowered me to make sense out of the nonsensical.  I was really impressed when my Grade 13 Calculus teacher, Mr. Swift, taught us how to calculate the area of an ellipse.  I couldn’t get enough of “If Mr. Green owns a lawn that is irregular in shape, how much grass does he have to cut” kind of questions.  Bringing this kind of order to chaos was so satisfying.

Few of life’s challenges can be reduced and “solved” like the tidy, hypothetical word problems in a math text.  Mr. Green and his lawn live in an artificial world.  We do not.  Even though I’ve never been asked by anyone to calculate the area of their unusually shaped yard, I have carried over a skill taught by Mr. Swift:  to look at what you know, evaluate it, gather more data, and move forward.  He introduced me to the real-world skill of integrated critical thinking.

It may seem counterintuitive, but living by faith is a real-world, integrated critical thinking skill.  “Wait,” you may protest.  “Faith is intended to fill in the gaps for what we don’t or can’t know.  Is faith about believing even when there isn’t evidence?”  

This is a common misconception.  Faith is not a leap in the dark.  It is about what we can’t know or see, but it is also about gathering data, evaluating it, and responding accordingly.  In this case, the “dataset” to which we have access is our knowledge of the person and character of the Creator God and His record of engagement with His created reality as recorded in Scripture.  This is why we can’t approach the Bible as a dictionary of theology.  Who God is, how He engages with His creation, and even the very nature of His creation is described for us both with technical precision (the books of Leviticus or Romans) and with the “word problem” style of math texts.  The stories of David, Japhthah, Onesimus, Peter, Ruth, Esther, and so many others are as instructive as the theological arguments of Paul for salvation by grace through faith in  Ephesians.

This is why living by faith is not for the faint of heart - or faint of mind.  Even though a child can understand the love of God although none of us can fully comprehend it.  Even though reconciliation to God through Christ is simple, it is not simplistic.  God is knowable yet not always understandable.  There is a huge difference between the two.  God has gone to great lengths to make Himself known - through His creative works, through Jesus Christ, and by inspiring authors to record these events in the pages of Scripture.  He has also told us, “My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts”   (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Seldom do life’s “word problems” fit into neat little solvable boxes.  Usually, they are compound, complex, irregular ellipses that stretch us, confuse us, and can potentially shake the very foundation of our lives.  Developing a response to those moments requires a skillset similar to what I was learning in math:  the ability to gather data, evaluate, and apply what is known to what is unknown.  What I can know about God and the nature of His created reality?

This is one of reasons why the Bible isn’t a dictionary of theological concepts.  The faithfulness of God, sometimes explained with technical precision like Joshua 1:5 (“I will never leave you nor forsake you”), is better understood through the lives and stories of imperfect people.  These stories are recorded for our learning (1 Corinthians 10:11).  

The light-bulb moment occurs when we discover that God is STILL faithful and good to His people.  When life doesn’t make sense, when life events hurt, and when we are angry and confused about what seems like His absence, we, like the peoples’ lives record in the Scriptures, find comfort in courage that we are worshipping the same God they did.  The chaos may not change to order.  But the behind-the-scene glimpses of God’s hand in their lives assures us that His fingerprints are still present and active in ours.  The light bulb suddenly shines and we realize:  this is living by faith.