The life of faith is life before the face of God. Not just portions of our lives (like the parts that look put together and the parts that seem to be going good) but the whole (like the parts that are awful and we don’t want anyone to know about). One man describes faith as a two sided conversation. We converse with God when all is light and joy fills our hearts and we converse with God when all is dark and pain is our heart’s only companion.
Faith engages God on the mountain top and in the pit—the location means little, the pursuit of God means everything. The problem is that we have lost the language of lament. Most of our conversation with God is one-sided. We do not know how to come to God when all is dark, bitter and hopeless. In fact, we may believe that we are not even welcome to come to God when we are in such a state. After all, aren’t we called to come before him with thanksgiving and praise?
The reality is that the invitation to come with joy and the invitation to come with pain are equally emphasized in Scripture. I am not sure why we mute books like Ecclesiastes, Job, Lamentations, and Jeremiah. I am uncertain why we ignore the massive amount of lament material in the Scriptures. It is imperative that we capture this side of the conversation of faith. Without it, faith becomes a farce.