If you are a person of faith, I imagine you find your faith works out differently as circumstances and life chapters change. I find it helpful to think about the posture that my Christian beliefs invites me to take, and to live more intentionally in light of what lies before me.
If this sounds a little obscure, let me outline what I think are the four most common postures of faith we are invited to adopt – and you might have some others to add to the list. Of course, sometimes there is a mix and match – but let’s not over complicate things.
Posture 1: Faith as intercession.
This is faith railing against difficult circumstances or evil in the world. It is when we ask God to change something. In our better moments, these requests are not only for ourself and our immediate circle, but for others who are impacted by some difficult situation. Often this is an automatic posture – one immediately assumed in the face of threat, danger or calamity. If someone you love is given a heartbreaking diagnosis, you probably swing into prayer, asking God to change the situation and to do the miraculous. Indeed, it would seem heartless to not ask God to change painful situations. Not that all intercessory prayer is urgent. At times we plead with God for promotion, or financial success or some special luxury or kindness. It can be as simple as asking God to help you find a parking bay.
It is one thing to ask God for something, another to accept the answer given. This was underlined for me several decades ago in a conversation I have never forgotten. I was accommodated by a family from a church that had invited me to do some ministry over the weekend. I had never met them before, and in trying to get conversation going, spotted a photo of a young girl and commented on it, asking if it was their daughter. They said it was, and then added two devastating words, “she died”. I rather awkwardly expressed my sympathy, kicking myself for not knowing more about the people who were hosting me.
“Don’t feel embarrassed,” the husband said. “We are no longer at that raw stage – actually, it’s rather wonderful to talk about her, because her life and death was a God story.”
He went on to tell me that when the diagnosis of “terminal” came through he pleaded with God to change it. “I’ve never prayed so hard in my life. Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you that if you only pray a little harder you will get the answer you want. There was nothing wrong with the intensity and fervour of my prayer, or of my willingness to sacrifice. I even asked God to take my life rather than hers, and I meant it. But there was no breakthrough – just the relentless progression of her very aggressive cancer. Not one thing went right… there wasn’t even one short season of reprieve, a few months where you can draw breath and say, ‘she is in remission – at least for now.’ I was praying again one night (and there weren’t any when I didn’t) when I suddenly broke down altogether. I found myself saying words too shocking to bear, but I had said them, and said them to God. ‘She is going to die, isn’t she?’ And for the first time I heard God answer, ‘Yes, yes she is.’ ‘Why,’ I yelled back? The only reply was silence – not a horrible silence, just a long, peaceful, but non-negotiable kind of silence… the kind you know means, ‘this is the answer. It is not going to change.’ I don’t know how long I sat there – numb, but knowing I had been given the gift of the truth. This was terminal. She was going to die. And then there was the gentlest of whispers, a suggestion that I knew was the way ahead. I heard God saying (and yes, it was God, I have never doubted it), ‘why not change your prayer? Instead of saying ‘heal her, heal her’ why not ask that she would enjoy each of her remaining days and that her life would be remembered and that it would count?’ And I did that.
“I can’t tell you how difficult it was and at the start I felt as though I was betraying her – giving up on her life. But then I started to notice something… my new request was being answered. She had been having so many awful side effects from the medication she was on – and suddenly that changed. Though she didn’t have a lot of energy, she had enough to do something meaningful each day. She started to laugh again. We had such good days… no, not lots of them, but each was special and still has a place in my heart. And then she died – not when we expected it. We woke up one day and she was gone. We don’t even know the exact moment it happened – she hadn’t even called out for us. She looked so peaceful. And then the stories started to come in – about how she impacted the people who knew her. So many, many stories – we were stunned. She was only 5, but she had impacted people we hadn’t even remembered meeting. This happened 15 years ago, and they are still coming in. So don’t feel bad about asking about my wonderful daughter who died. She is with God, and all is well – all is very well. But I did learn this – sometimes you have to change your prayer to get God’s finest answer.”
“Sometimes you have to change your prayer to get God’s finest answer.” I’ve always remembered that. My host wasn’t speaking about the latest prayer theory – he was speaking about his encounter with the living God. When we intercede, sometimes our posture needs to change from “I know what should be done, now God, please do it,” to “You alone, O Lord, know what is best. Help me to trust you for your answer, whatever it is.”
Posture 2: Faith as open hands
This is a posture we adopt when we sense that change is coming. We don’t yet know what it is, but intuitively we sense that something is shifting. Of course our natural response is not necessarily to have open hands – often it’s the opposite, and we fight and resist, for many experience the “change” word as the most threatening one of all. But at our best, when we sense a change of season, we open our hands and hearts and cultivate a quiet expectancy before God.
How do we know we are entering an “open hands” season?
Often it’s because we experience a divine discontent… not the ordinary run of the mill, “I’m getting a little bored, I need a change” but a deeper level of unsettlement.
I was at a meeting of pastors a few decades back (so many things are now from a few decades back!) and one of them asked, “how do you know when God is moving you on – when it’s time to accept a call to another church or a new opportunity.” The speaker of the day thought for a while and then replied. “I think it is when you walk around the streets in your area – the place God has located you – and you no longer feel a sense of compassion for the people or a love for the place. It is when it is all so familiar, but it no longer moves you.” I think that was a wise answer – but of course you are probably not a pastor. However, I suspect the principle isn’t that different. When it all seems ho hum, when we are no longer stretched (and no longer care about that) – when we just feel that we have done our dash, and that it’s now time for another. Of course we must be careful not to let some of the normal discouragements of life dominate – often we must simply see those through. But if you sense that you are entering a season of change, why not ask God to help you loosen your grip a little and to open your hands. Once you do that, see if there is something God seems to be placing in them… take time to be open handed and to notice more than you might usually do.
Posture 3: Faith as daily faithfulness
There is no special order in the postures I am describing. In fact, number 3 is the most common, and the one that is usually required of us. It is faith getting on with the tasks of daily life. It operates from the assumption that God is involved in all of life, and therefore we are already where God has placed us. As such, we should faithfully get on with what we are doing. It is this posture that helps us to see our work as a vocation – a call from God. Indeed, all of life is call, in the sense that a call is an invitation from God to participate whole heartedly and faithfully in life. Are you an accountant? Then browse through the accounts for the glory of God. Are you a chef? Cook, for the glory of God. Are you a counsellor? Then listen, for the glory of God. Are you a parent? Then raise your children for the glory of God. Are you a friend? Be the kind of friend who makes the love of Jesus a little more real.
This is faith as daily faithfulness. It’s day in and day out faithfulness. It is where the bulk of our living takes place. It might not seem specially glamorous, but it is the kind of faith envisioned in 1 Cor 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.” Is this easy? No. Is it possible? Well, it’s one step at a time, isn’t it? Is it a posture that will serve you well today? Almost certainly, yes!
Posture 4: Faith as wonder
I love this one. It is faith not looking for anything in particular, but faith with eyes wide open, and noticing the finger prints of God at unexpected moments. It is the faith of a child – trusting and confident that God is good. It is faith pausing long enough to notice that the breeze is refreshing, the sunset remarkable, and the birds vibrantly alive. Gerard Manley Hopkins poem “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” exclaims that “Christ plays in ten thousand places.” More particularly Hopkins suggests that it is through the features of people’s faces that we see Christ at work. There is wonder and grace all around – easy to spot if our eyes are wide open, yet often missed. It is possible to see the remarkable and remain unmoved, not because it is ordinary, but because our gaze is inadequate.
I could go on, but this post has already exceeded the recommended limit. Perhaps enough to invite you to examine the posture your faith invites you to adopt this week. Whatever it is, lean in with hopeful and trusting expectancy.
Nice chatting…
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