Why is it better to have faith than not to have faith in God?

There are many answers we might offer. For instance, we might say that faith helps us find a contentment that would otherwise be missing in the face of the mysteries and uncertainties of existence. Or I suppose we might respond by saying that faith in God gives us comfort in times of loss or tragedy. Or, again, we could say that faith gives us a feeling of fulfillment and communion with God. And there is truth in all of these responses.

But it is not the whole truth. After all, does faith always give us a sense of contentment and comfort and communion with God? Does our faith consistently leave us feeling sunny and happy, filled with exuberant joy? Aren't there times, dreadful times, when misfortune has overtaken us -- job loss, serious illness, the death of a loved one -- and when we turn to God we have no experience of the divine presence? God seems remote, cold, perhaps -- dare we say it? -- nonexistent. What then do we say of the goodness of faith? Or can we honestly say that we have faith at all when we can find no consolation, no guidance, no word from God which addresses us in our need?

Let's face it, it's hard to be very enthusiastic about living a religious life when God seems to be absent at the most inconvenient times. There is a story of a mother who was distressed about her son's reluctance to go to church. "You go to the show for entertainment," she said. "You visit with your friends and have fun. Don't you think it is only right that you go to the Lord's house once a week for an hour?" After thinking for a moment the boy replied, "But mom, what would you think if you were invited to somebody's house and every time you went, the guy was never there?" Good point.

But the problem can go well beyond the public worship service. There are times we have no sense of God being anywhere near us, no matter how faithfully we worship, no matter how fervently we pray. At times like these it is easy to sympathize with that philosopher of film, Woody Allen: "If only God would give me some sign. If He would just speak to me once, anything, one sentence, two words. If He would just cough." Isn't it true that at times we scan the heavens and it very much seems that we find "the supposed throne of mercy without an occupant?" (Morris Jastrow, Jr. The Book of Job. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1920, p. 28).

When we have such an experience as this, must we conclude that either God is missing or our faith is faulty? Perhaps there is something else, another option. For it seems that even those people of profound faith and spiritual insight have felt abandoned by God from time to time. Wasn't this the case for Job and Jeremiah and even Jesus who cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Listen to the words of the Psalmist in our scripture text for today. Here there is no sign of either a quiet yet confident spiritual serenity or of a handclapping religious jubilation. What we do find are words of faith. However, it is a faith that has no smile attached to it.