Walking by Faith

"Walking by Faith"

One of the first things Tim talked about one night was how he really had to walk by faith in trusting the Lord for direction for his ministry in the Dominican and Haiti.

As the week went on, I was reminded of how not only Tim has to do this, but that those living there were literally walking by faith.

I looked up the verse that quickly came to mind when he said those words that night. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7

I then looked it up in the Message version. Verse 6 says,

"That's why we live with such good cheer. You won't see us

drooping our heads or dragging our feet."

This lady was singing at church that Sunday. We worshipped

with Haitians, Dominicans, and Americans- singing in three different languages. I couldn't help but think of the songs and verses that talk of all the nations praising the Lord.

The passage goes on to say, "Cramped conditions here don't get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we'll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming."

As I reflected on the "walking by faith" part of this verse the next few days, and as I saw it lived out in the lives of those we were ministering to, I began to ask myself how much do I really "walk by faith?"

In the area we were in, they literally walked, in faith, hoping that they would be able to receive an education, get clean water, meet together at their church to worship the One in Whom they had placed their faith.

In my day in and day out life, do I walk by faith? I'd ashamedly have to answer no. I do not give much thought to the fact that I have water, food, a job. I sleep at night, knowing I won't get wet if it rains while I lay in a warm bed; I assume that some more money will be put the bank at the end of the month, that I have a car in which I can drive to my job each day; that I can flip a switch and have electricity; I can turn on a knob and have not only clean water, but hot water; that I have more than one pair of shoes and clothes that I can match to those shoes.

I do not walk by faith; instead, more often than not, I sit in presumption and disregard of the blessings God has so graciously given. I am spoiled to my little "luxuries" each day and take for granted those things that many in this world have never seen.

I can say I have had to "walk by faith" and recognized it as a form of that, only a few times in my life. Once in high school when our school burned, and we weren't sure where we'd go. Once when we quit our jobs, sold our house, moved in with Jason's parents, and waited for God to move us to Illinois. Of course, when Pruitt was born, the difficult circumstances, and when he died.

Even still, and I'm not making light at all of loss- trust me, I know- but even in those times, I still had so many grace gifts from God and physical provisions.

These do not have those things, and they face loss on top of it.

Bil Mar is the pastor of the church we went to; he lost his six year old son last year. He knows what it is to walk by faith. But his faith is his "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." He wakes up each morning, not sure if the other 7 members of his family will even have anything to eat that day. He goes to bed at night with the other 7 members of his family, in one of those 12' by 20' houses.

My guess is that as he lays his head down, maybe on a pillow, maybe not, that he is reminded of the spacious living conditions that await him in Heaven, where he will see his son again- that is walking by faith.