Faith lag.

A good friend will help you do what you need to do even though you may not want to do it.  

Several years ago I had the privilege of participating in some mission meetings being held in La Línea, Spain directly north of Gibraltar.  My hotel window looked out at “The Rock.”  I was barely settled into my room when there was a knock on the door.  There stood my friend, Jim, who wanted to greet me and to keep me awake while I battled jet lag.  I just wanted to sleep, the worst thing to do.  Jim knew that.  He dragged me out of my room, and we headed south through the city’s marina into Gibraltar.  At the airport (where you literally walk across the runway when there are no planes landing) we flashed our passports at the customs agent. He just looked at the cover and saw “CANADA” and “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” emblazoned on the fronts and waved us through.  No checking.  No security.  Just a friendly wave.  

There is a reason Gibraltar is called “The Rock.”  It is one - a big one.  We wandered up streets and then back down.  Up and down.  The physical exertion allowed my muscles to catch up to the tiredness of my mind.  When we got back to the hotel, I was thoroughly exhausted and slept for about ten hours.  The benefit came the next morning when I felt reasonably - but not completely - in sync with local time.  

Jet lag isn’t the only type of “lag” with which we struggle.  There is “social” lag - that awkward experience of being in a setting and not quite being certain what is going on or what the expectations are (“Did I dress appropriately?  I don’t know anyone - should I go and introduce myself?).  There is also “hunger” lag.  This is when, having a ferocious appetite, we eat and keep on eating because we still feel hungry . . . only to have our stomachs tell us an hour later that we should have stopped eating two pizza slices or hamburgers ago.  There is also “head” lag - when our heart and head seem out of sync with one another.  We have to make a hard choice . . . our head tells us one thing, our heart tells us another.  Option “A” (the head) is difficult and may be uncomfortable.  Option “B” feels good and will be easier to do.  We know, though, that option “A” is the better or right choice.  Unless we have something to guide us or help us, we may fall into the trap offered by the false comfort offered by option “B” only to later regret it and wish we had gone with our head, not our heart.  You know what I’m talking about.

There is another type of lag.  For all of us the struggle is real.  For all of us there is a deceiving “Option B.”  For all of us the battle is between temporary discomfort and immediate resolution.  It is called is “faith” lag.

Faith lag happens when what we think to be true about God doesn’t line up with what we observe or experience in life.  Faith lag is the fertile soil in which the seeds of lament were planted by the psalmists.  Asaph (and many others) complained, “Why do the wicked prosper” (Psa. 73:3)?  After experiencing the absolute devastation of everything, Job was counselled, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9).  Faith lag is what inspired Rabbi Kushner to write, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  Faith lag:  when God doesn’t make sense.

While adversity makes faith lag more obvious, it can also be experienced in times of comfort.  In fact, because we don’t feel the pressure in the same way, the deception of “Option B” is even more subtle and enticing.  We may falsely assume that the good times we are enjoying are simply manifestations of divine blessing.  Unless we are intentional to refine and sharpen our truth- and life-faith skills, we may begin to believe the error that our circumstances are indicators of whether or not God is pleased with us.

Option “A” in faith lag situations will always be the more challenging option.  It will require some critical thinking.  We need to ask ourselves, “What do I know to be true about God and His created order?  How does that truth impact my perception of this moment or event?”  Sometimes that can be an almost impossible question to ask, let alone process.  That’s why we need a Jim-like person who knows us and loves us and has some outside perspective who can walk with us up and down the rock we may be facing.

Option “B” will always be the fool’s choice.  It will be founded on false assumptions like, “pleasant = good, unpleasant = bad.”  Or, “God is punishing me because of my previous poor decision(s)?”  

Here is some encouragement.  Faith lag is normal.  For those of us committed to “live by faith,” we will struggle.  Even the most “got-it-together-cuz_I_love_and_trust_God_always” person struggles (if they even exist).  Living by faith is inconvenient and hard.  We must remember Solomon’s counsel, “No one knows what awaits them - the pleasant or the painful.  Only God knows.  He does this deliberately so we will learn to revere and depend on Him (Graham’s Amalgamated Summary Version of Ecclesiastes 3:14, 5:1-3, 7:14, 12:1, 13).

The reality is, like jet lag, social lag, and hunger lag, faith lag means that we will experience a delay in being able to see God’s purposes (maybe including waiting until we see Him face-to-face). Our lag does not define God; it creates the opportunity for us to learn and to embrace Him.  I love Asaph’s conclusion:  “I regained my perspective when I was intentional to engage with God” (Psa. 73:17 - Graham’s Amalgamated Summary Version).  

Living by faith means living with lag. Knowing this we can prepare for the struggle.  Learn the truth, find a friend, avoid the deception. As my friend Jim regularly encourages, me, “Keep looking up!”