Faith and Noncompliance

Noncompliance. A very frustrating aspect of patient care. Mainly because two primary expectations are at work. Expectation #1: Patients expect to encounter a knowledgeable provider who will not only diagnose their condition, but tell them how to successfully treat it. Expectation #2: Providers expect that having given the diagnosis and treatment plan, the patient will be compliant with the regimen.

So, you as provider collaborated with the necessary services to determine the patient’s diagnosis. You utilized your expertise to design an evidence-based treatment plan. You exceeded your allotted appointment time to comprehensively explain the plan, the importance of taking the medication, what to expect, and the prescribed duration of therapy.

…only to check the medical record to learn that follow-up appointments have been missed.

…only to discover vital medications have not been timely filled or refilled.

…only to find that their labs are worse than before or their vital signs show decline with each new visit.

Or worse, while admitted to the hospital, prescribed care is refused or they elect to leave Against Medical Advice (AMA).  Urgh!!!

But before I get all upset at Mr. Jones and displeased at Ms. Doe, I wonder if God has the same reaction to us. We bring our problems to Him, as right we should, since He’s qualified to address each and every one of them. Yet, we either neglect to do what He requires or we disregard the instructions He gives. I wonder if He’s thinking:

“You say you want deliverance from that addiction, but my instructions on overcoming strongholds have never been considered.”

“You pray asking Me for a new job, but you haven’t been found faithful at this current one.”

“You cry out to Me for help, but take your friend’s advice over Mine.”

“You’ve complained about your financial situation for 5 years, but haven’t considered my ways of handling money.”

We end up being spiritually noncompliant patients, perpetually dealing with the same chronic issues year after year after year. We wonder why our situation isn’t improving or our problems aren’t resolved, all while refusing to submit to the Great Physician’s prescribed plans of addressing them.

Can you identify an area in your life that you either struggle in or would like to improve? It can be spiritual, relational, occupational, emotional, financial, or general personal development. Now, the real question. What does God have to say about that subject? Don’t worry if you haven’t been to seminary or have a degree in Biblical Studies. Neither have I. All you need is a desire to know God’s word and an internet connection…and since you’re reading this, I gather you have both.

Technology has made access to information abundantly easy. At any moment of the day we can access not only God’s word, but reputable experts and scholars who can explain it as well…right in the palm of our hands. We are without excuse. So, if one of your areas of improvement, like mine, is time management, simply go to Google, Bing, or your search engine of choice and type in “What does the Bible say about time management?” Amongst the hundreds of options returned are some great choices such as  www.gotquestions.org, www.biblestudytools.com, or www.openbible.info/topics* which either provide a list of verses related to that topic or provide an explanation from a biblical standpoint.

Choose one of the verses and read it in its context. That is, go to the chapter in which that verse is found and read the whole chapter. What immediately precedes that verse? What comes after it? What is the overall focus of that chapter? Pose the question to yourself, how does this principle apply to my current struggle or situation?

Ask the Lord to help you make the connection between what’s on the page and what’s your current reality. Undeniably, the Holy Spirit will be faithful to connect the dots and make it applicable to you. Repeat the process with the other verses the search engine returned. You’ll start to see a consistent theme or principle of how God expects us to view time, manage time, and utilize our time wisely.

But, just like it would be displeasing to us for a patient to come to us seeking treatment only to refuse to take the medical advice given, the Bible says, it’s impossible to please God without faith. Notice the adjective used is not difficult or challenging or hard. It is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without faith. Why?

At the heart of spiritual noncompliance is unbelief, a distrust that what God said is what will actually happen. And at the heart of unbelief is our calling into question God’s integrity. Can God and His word really be trusted?

In other words, when our feet don’t move in the direction He leads, it’s as if our mouths uttered, “Lord, You don’t know what You’re talking about. I think my way is better.” When our decisions contradict what He has declared in His word, we might as well have said to Him, “I think I know more than You on this subject, God.” And when we operate independently of Him, we really are relaying, “I don’t need You. I can handle this on my own.” To disregard what God says, instructs, or commands, is in essence to call Him a liar to His face.

But just because we start out as spiritually noncompliant, doesn’t mean we have to continue that way. But how do I change? I don’t want my actions to insult God. The answer is so simple and yet so difficult at the same time. The answer is FAITH. I know what you may be thinking. “Here you go again with one of those spiritual, church words that have little relevance to everyday life”.  But stick with me and we’ll see how it applies.

Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Assurance and conviction indicate complete confidence that something you have not yet experienced will come to pass. The confidence can be so sure because of Who it’s placed in and what it’s based on. Dr. Tony Evans explains faith with my favorite quote on the subject. “Faith is acting like it is so, even when it’s not so, so that it might be so, simply because God said so.”

Let’s reverse it, because God said it, it is true and it will happen, though it’s not tangible in your current experience. But in order to eventually experience it, you have to believe it. And you only know you believe it by your actions taken to make it a reality. To get what God promised, we have to act on what God said, perhaps even in the midst of a situation that looks diametrically opposite of that end goal.

To illustrate, think back to day 1 of your professional training. You enrolled with the expectation that graduation day would come. Graduation was not your experience on day 1. It was a date on the calendar many years in the future. It was a real event you were planning to attend. But it wasn’t tangible on day 1.

Perhaps many others who started out with you said they wanted the same goal. But in order to reach graduation day, there were some other days in between (like pop-quiz day and final exam day and many, many study days) that tested whether what you said, you really believed. In other words to authenticate what you were hoping for, you put in hard work to assure it was attained.

Earlier, we identified our desired area of improvement (we’ll continue with the time management example). We then briefly described how to discover what God has to say about it. After that process, we realize there’s a definite inconsistency between what God said and how we’re actually handling our time. Now what? Revisiting expectation #2 from the introduction, having discovered God’s perspective on our issue, He has an expectation that we will do something in response.

Understand, faith has not been exhibited because I picked up my Bible (or searched for verses on Google). Faith has not been demonstrated because I agree my way of handling time is wrong, and the way God lays out is right. Faith is ONLY demonstrated when I take the necessary ACTION to change my approach to handling time to match His prescribed way. Until the question of “What then must I do?” is answered, the other steps were just accumulated knowledge.

For who, after receiving a prescription for treatment, tells the doctor, “Thank you. I’ll add this new Rx to my scrapbook collection of all the other prescriptions you’ve written before”? Or who visits the pharmacy to have the prescription filled simply to admire the vibrant color and nifty shape of the capsule or tablet dispensed? We’d agree the point in getting the prescription and filling the prescription were missed.

Likewise, God doesn’t want us simply displaying our dust-covered family Bibles on our mantles as a collection of His unused prescriptions for our diagnoses. Nor does He want us going to church to hear another sermon or homily just to admire the way in which the preacher delivered it.

Faith requires action. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “we walk by faith, not by sight”. Notice it didn’t say, we talk by faith or we think by faith. Walking indicates movement in a specific direction. It is believing Him and His word so much we act on it.

Priscilla Shirer once said, “God doesn’t just speak to be heard. He speaks to be obeyed.” He expects the prescription to be filled and taken as directed. He expects us to approach His word to find out His thoughts on our issue. But more importantly, He expects us to follow through with obedience once we’ve learn it.

I’m the first to know that this post is convicting. In fact, it has been one of the hardest posts I’ve written thus far. But let’s allow that uneasiness we feel to motivate us to change our approach to God. Don’t just read the Bible because it’s what we are supposed to do. Approach it from the perspective of 1) Lord, what do You have to say about this? 2) Having discovered Your stance, Your principles, Your expectations, what do You want me to do with it?”

Then take the necessary steps to do what He reveals.

That’s faith. That’s what pleases God.

*Of note, I am not at all affiliated with any of these listed websites; just have found them helpful in my study of God’s word and hope they’ll be beneficial to you, too.