For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
One of the problems that people who receive new prescription glasses, especially first-time bifocals, encounter is the need to be especially careful on stairs. Suddenly, steps are not where they once appeared to be, and many people have suffered a bad tumble because they didn’t see what they thought they were seeing. We depend heavily on our eyesight for everything that we do, so anything that distorts our vision is a real problem. We realize that, as critical as our vision is, it is not perfect, and it can make mistakes. But there is something that can always be perfect as it guides us where we should go, and that is faith.
We need eyesight to enable us to go where we want to go. But we need faith to enable us to go where God wants us to go. Obedience requires us to have a firm conviction that the Word of God is true and faithful. If we believe that God’s word is true, we can read it with confidence, follow it without fear, and appreciate it with comfort. God’s word will never take us outside of God’s will or outside of what is the very best for us.
Faith is an unusual element in that outside of faith, faith makes no sense, but inside of faith, nothing else makes sense. The world tells us to believe only what we see; faith tells us to see only what we believe. Faith is difficult to explain to a non-believer, because that non-believer has no capability to grasp its nature. Faith is unnecessary to explain to a believer, because it is the atmosphere in which that believer dwells. Yet even the believer can rise to greater heights by applying faith to more and more of his life. Great accomplishments are possible only by faith. Even the world understands that to a certain extent. The philosopher Goethe declared that epochs of faith are epochs of fruitfulness, while epochs without faith are devoid of all permanent good. The Lord Jesus spoke of faith moving mountains. Anything that we wish to achieve of good in our lives must be achieved through the application of faith, by walking the path of submissive trust in the power and will of our Heavenly Father.
We are walking by faith today. To the extent that we are trusting our God, our walk will be on timid tiptoes or in great strides. -Jim MacIntosh