“for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our consistent belief in God’s promises]” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (AMP)
You might be familiar with the Scripture above. You might even have it printed on one of your shirts like I do. Nevertheless, let us take a moment to critically think about what it means to “walk by faith”.
One Sunday morning, during a car ride to church, my little sister looked up and saw an airplane. “Look how slowly that plane is moving,” she remarked. My father chuckled and replied, “it only appears so because we are so far away from it. But you have no idea how fast it’s moving up there.”
This exchange got me thinking. How many times have I judged a situation in my life by my limited human sight and knowledge? Although the plane appeared to be moving slowly to all of us in the moving car, my father knew that it was moving fast because he understood and believed in the physics of how airplanes work. So, when he looked up, he was not judging the speed of the plane by what his eyes could perceive. Instead, he concluded based on what he knew to be true about the laws of aerodynamics: that it would require a very high speed for a plane to fly so high up there.
In the same way, God does not want us to judge our lives and the situations that we encounter by what we see with our eyes. Instead, He wants us to have faith, and draw our inferences and conclusions based on what we know from His Word. God wants us to remember that our human perception and insight are greatly limited, but He is the One who sees all things and knows all things – and He has made great promises to us of a glorious end if we follow His ways (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11).
Sometimes, the world will try to tell us that we will be missing out if we do not take their worldly advice and “move fast” but the next time anyone tries to discourage you from seeking God’s will on any matter, remind yourself of Psalm 34:5 – “those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame.”
And when you are told that you need to conform to the patterns of “popular culture” and a society that does not acknowledge God, remember that you are a citizen of heaven awaiting a Savior who has gone to prepare a place for you (Philippians 3:20, John 14:2).
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This evidence is found in God’s Word. That’s where you will find His promises to you.
PRAYER: Lord, please help me to trust in Your will for me and to obey Your instructions regardless of what my human senses perceive about the situations I encounter in Jesus name. Amen.