I Walk By Faith, Not By Sight

Walking by faith is tough. When I used to think of walking by faith I think I had this mental picture of skipping through a sun-drenched, flower-filled field. You know, those scenes straight out of Hollywood where everything is perfect? Beautiful music plays in the background and everyone in the scene is smiling. It's just good.

And it is good...except now my picture is not nearly as romantic. It's more realistic. I'd go as far as to suggest that it's healthier. Now it's dark out and I can't see a whole lot around me. In fact, it's pitch black out. A little more like a war zone, like ground zero. My walk is not so much a skip but a trudge, through mud or snow or something else that makes walking tricky, and it's up hill. I picture army fatigues where once I'd pictured pretty dresses and pigtails. I'm tired but the thing that makes it good is that I know where to look. It's not so much like a guiding light ahead of me but somewhere near, perhaps even in, and because of it I can keep trudging, one foot in front of the other. The only thing that I know about the direction is that it's forward and for now that's enough. I walk ahead by faith, not by sight.

I think we hope for the nice version but all of us know that life just doesn't work that way. Some of us choose to live with a happy face on - the perpetually happy Christian - pretending everything is okay even when it is hard but I don't think that's anything remotely close to honest. I don't think it gives a fair picture of who God really is or how He really engages in human history...in my story. I'm convinced that God meets us how life really works. I'm learning that walking by faith isn't always easy but it's always good. I'm learning that it's not always predictable but instead that it's always risky. I'm learning that the 'payoff' isn't always instantaneous or even expected but it's always worth the wait. I'm learning that walking by faith requires that I give up control but that I'm giving it to someone much more qualified than myself. It's not easy but it's good.