For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7
A Sunday school teacher once asked her class if someone could tell her what faith is. One young boy answered, “Faith is believing in things you know aren’t true!” I think we Christians sometimes feel the same way about walking by faith, as though faith is having hope even when we know things are not going to work out.
Paul gives us a much needed insight here about faith. It is a walk, or in other words, it is a progression in which the outcome remains unseen. Faith is not believing in things untrue, but it is exactly the opposite: faith is acting upon proven truth. Faith is moving forward and trusting that God is who He says He is and does what He has always done and that you are not the exemption to what God has always said and done.
Faith is not walking blindly into an unknown outcome. Faith is walking when the outcome is not yet seen—not when it is unknown. By faith we know that all things work together for good for those who love God (Rom. 8:28), and we need to walk forward in faith as God works things together for good. Now there is some wisdom we need to apply here. We cannot jump off a cliff and say, “I believe this is going to work together for my good.” It is important to understand that faith is acting on proven truth; it is not jumping from cliffs, though at times it may feel like it. Walking by faith is allowing the Holy Spirit to be our guide and the Word of God our guard, for the Spirit will never lead us outside the boundaries of God’s Word.
If you feel like you just can’t see how things are going to work out, keep progressing in your walk with the Lord until the outcome is seen. Be careful of acting on your own impulses, thinking, God hasn’t answered, so I’ll take a leap of faith. Keep trusting, keep praying, keep serving, and keep sharing. Walk forward in proven truth as you await things working together for good, even when you can see no way for it to happen.
God is not limited to what we can see or the possible outcomes we can project. So keep walking with Him while waiting on Him, and He’ll prove Himself faithful time and again!
Excerpt from “Body Builders” now available on Amazon.
