May 13 (2 Corinthians 5:7)
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (ESV)
Do you realize how difficult it is to walk by faith and not
by sight? You certainly do if you’ve
ever tried it. We
cannot see God, but we have faith in Him.
His
ways are not our ways, but we have faith that His ways are right. We
will experience suffering, but we have faith because Jesus said He overcame
it all. It is no wonder that people look
at us and say, “Are you kidding?”
Let’s be clear.
Everything we do in our daily existence is based on our physical
sensations. We see a line of traffic and
take a different route. We hear about an
interesting book and go to buy it. We
smell bacon frying and know the day is off to a good start. Yet everything about our relationship with
God is based on something else. As the
writer of Hebrews 11:1 puts it, “Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is assurance. It is conviction. It is not namby-pamby, wishful thinking, but
because it has nothing to do with our physical senses, which form the basis for
how we interact with every other aspect of our lives, faith is a different way
of knowing, and a difficult one.
Yet faith in God is the single most freeing force in the
world! Think about something that scares
you, something that just terrifies the living daylights out of you. Maybe it is standing on the diving board and
looking into water that seems about a thousand feet away. Maybe it is facing a job decision or the prospect
of losing a job. Picture that thing that
gives you the sweats. Now, what if you
didn’t have to rely on your senses? What
if all the things that terrify you because you have seen them or heard about them
or experienced them in some way just weren’t there? What if you could ignore all that? Would that not be the most exhilarating feeling
in the world? That, my friends, is faith.
Jesus, whenever You call me, I look around at the wind and waves the way Peter did and start to sink. Remember that I am dust, Jesus, and prone to fear and weakness. Help me to strengthen my faith so that I may operate more by it and less by my physical senses, for I truly do believe in You. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins
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