2 Corinthians 5:7 ( NKJV )
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
I apologize for the lack of a blog last week as we did not have internet access in Puerto Rico.
This week we are going to continue our study of faith in God by beginning to discuss how to walk by faith. When I was newly saved, one of the most important forms of literature for my early Christian experience was the testimony book. I was thrilled by the stories of faith and how God came through in dire times. It always seemed to me that these wonderful people were taking a leap of faith. Indeed there are times in life when a “leap” of faith is what we need. However faith is not something we do with great leaps once in a while. Faith is something we are supposed to live by. (Rom 1:17)
Faith is not something reserved for those special times in life where we need rescue from some calamity. Faith is something we are to use every day of our lives. I believe the statement in the above verse is very apropos to the picture we need to have of faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. In the natural our lives are very dependent upon physical sight. Faith must take the same place in our spiritual life that sight does in our natural life.
If we do not have sight, we are very limited. We can not see to walk through a room. We trip over things that, with sight would be no problem to avoid. We cannot groom ourselves adequately, we can not drive a car or do most of the things that we take for granted. Of course there are those who learn to compensate for the loss of sight and manage to live productive lives, however even they are limited.
For those of us who have had the benefit of being able to see in the natural, the loss of this sense can be devastating. Just go into a dark room and turn out the lights. How do you feel? You feel lost and helpless. Just getting to the other side of the room becomes an adventure. It is hard to imagine life without our sight. When the lights finally come on again we rejoice because we can see. It is such liberty to walk through the room without fear of bumping into something or falling over something. Imagine how someone who could never see would feel at being given the gift of sight!
In the realm of the spirit faith fills the same function. As a matter of fact in the spirit we are to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith gives us the ability to “see” things that are beyond what our natural sight can see. If we do not have faith then we are blind in the spirit. We are limited to what our physical senses tell us. However there is much more going on around us than what we can see in the natural. By faith we can look into the realm of the spirit and begin to see things others cannot.
There is a wonderful story in the bible that illustrates this perfectly. In 2 Kings 6 we find the story of Elisha under attack by the king of Syria. It seems that Elisha had been telling the king of Israel the plans of the Syrians. Every time the enemy made a plan of attack, God would reveal it to Elisha and Elisha would tell the King of Israel. Needless to say this angered the King of Syria and he sent an army to kill Elisha. When Elisha’s servant arose one morning he found the whole hillside covered in enemy chariots. When he showed this to Elisha, the prophet had an interesting response.
2 Kings 6:16-17 ( NKJV )
So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Elisha could see what his servant could not. Why? Because he was able to walk by faith and not just by natural sight. He could see in the realm of the spirit and what he saw caused fear to be wiped away. His servant was limited to natural sight, so he could only see defeat and death. However faith allowed the prophet to see more.
What Elisha saw gave him the insight he needed for a course of action. We read in the rest of the chapter that Elisha prayed that the enemy host would be struck with blindness and he lead them into the city where they were captured, fed and released. He won a great victory because he could “see” beyond his natural sight.
What are you facing today. What do you see around you. Certainly what you see with your eyes is real, but it is not the only reality. God is also real. Faith enables us to see the things God is doing. It enables us to see the possibilities that our relationship with the Lord opens up for our victory over circumstances. Are there enemy chariots all around you? Do you find yourself in a circumstance where you can see no possibility of victory? Do not be afraid. Look with the eye of faith. There is more power with you than against you. You just need to look with the eye of faith to see it.
Our goal must me to make this walk by faith daily. Every area of life should be seen through our faith in God. That is what we will be learning over the next number of weeks. Join me for this exciting journey.
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