Walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
In today’s world, it is much easier to live by sight rather than by faith. The sights and sounds of the world we live in capture our attention and control our affections. All too often we find ourselves living for the here and now, rather than the there and then. But God wants us to live according to His promises, even though we may not see them being fulfilled in the present moment. Living in this way empowers us to live in the now with a view to the then.
The Bible’s “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter, Hebrews 11, tells us that this is the kind of faith that “the ancients were commended for.” The chapter goes on to describe numerous heroes of the Christian faith, both named and unnamed, who “were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:2, 39-40). These men and women of God did not see God’s promises fulfilled during their time on this earth, but they held firm to their total trust in God’s promises, often enduring great hardship and suffering as they did so.
Martin Luther King Jr. said that “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” We know that God is sovereign and in complete control of everything; not a bird falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29). When we live our lives in the light of that truth, we can look to Him and trust where He is leading us. We don’t need to know where the inevitable twists and turns will appear in the path He has set us on. All we need to do is trust the One who is leading us every step of the way. When Paul tells us to walk by faith and not by sight, he is telling us to build our lives on the things that have eternal value and to live in light of eternity, just like the great heroes of the faith who have gone before us.
Every child of God needs an occasional faith-lift. We need to be reminded of God’s plan and purpose for our lives and resist our natural inclination to follow our own plan and purpose. We must recommit to leaning not on our own understanding, but to putting all our weight on our Lord and following wherever He leads us. A faith-lift shifts our trust away from self and puts back where it should be: on our Savior.
We need a faith-lift to elevate us above our feelings, which can be so fickle. Our feelings change like the breeze: we feel one way in this moment and another way in the next. A good faith-lift will lift us past the circumstances of life and reset our focus squarely on Christ.
What exactly is a faith-lift? It is a recommitment to surrender to the Spirit of God and a refusal to live in self-reliance. Cling to Christ! Allow God’s power to renew your mind, recalibrate your heart, and realign your will. This is the kind of faith-lift we all could use; pray and ask God to give it to you!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 