Faith walking

I love the way a friend describes the Christian life. She calls it "faith walking." What a great word picture for the Christian life....walking by faith, trusting the God who is, but can't be seen with the human eye.

As Francis Schaffer said, "He is there, and He is not silent" but you can't hear him with the ear, you can't see him with the eye, you can't touch him with your fingers. You must come to Him by faith alone.

Now, you may ask, do you ever doubt God? Do you ever doubt whether he is really there or not? Does your faith ever waiver? I think the honest answer from any human heart is "YES!" Faith walking is contrary to everything in us, and is highly ridiculed by our flesh and our culture. I have been called foolish, gullible, stupid...and other names given by those who are spiritually dead and cannot see what I see…so they scoff. I don't resent them, in fact I feel sorry for them...if they could only see with the eyes of faith....if they could only see….

There is so much to see. Have you ever gone out with a friend, sat on the hillside and just looked at the clouds? "I see an elephant" one says, and the other replies, "I see a bull." The clouds can stimulate our imagination, and we all need that. But faith is not imagination, it’s not a belief in a fantasy. It’s not pretending something is true contrary to the facts.

Faith walking is a response to the God of the universe who made an appearance in time and history. He became man, proved who he was by what he did, then died for sin, rose from the dead and returned to heaven until a day coming in the near future. That touch of God in time and history has given us a “rock” to tie our faith to. It has provided us with all we need to trust the God who became a man and told me about himself, what he wants me to do, how he wants me to live, and proved it all by his miracles and resurrection.

Faith walking is not tied to my imagination, it’s tied to time and history. It’s my response to the appearance of God on planet earth. And because of the fact of the life of Jesus Christ I can live a life KNOWING that what I believe is true. Millions have taken this walk to the very doors of death for their belief. You wouldn’t do that for a dream, a good story, or a fantasy.

I love this walk of faith…this opportunity to trust the God who is there….I have often described it this way- imagine you are 40,000 feet in the air on a little 1 foot by 1 foot platform (dizzy yet?), and there in nothing else around, no other place to stand…you are on the only safe place to be 40,000 feet in the air! Then, quietly you hear a voice say, “take a step.” You immediately look for the source of the voice, but you know it’s God speaking, and you reply, “where do I step?” The Lord says, “trust me, take a step…” and with great fear, you do and there, suddenly, unseen to you before is a 1 foot by 1 foot platform awaiting your arrival! You are thrilled! But you quickly look back and discover that the platform you were standing on is gone. Once again, you are on the only place to stand. Then, again you hear the voice, “take another step”… with faith growing you do, and find the air is ready for your foot, the platform is there for your arrival, but the one behind you is gone….and soon faith grows and you are running in mid-air, not worried about where you will step because you KNOW that God will provide, and he always does….that’s faith walking.

Enjoy the journey, there’s nothing more exciting that trusting the God who is there!

“People despise Christian faith. They hate it and are afraid that it may be true. The solution for this is to show them, first of all, that it is not unreasonable, that it is worthy of reverence and respect. Then show that it is winsome, making good men desire that it were true. Then show them that it really is true. It is worthy of reverence because it really understands the human condition. It is also attractive because it promises true goodness.” --Blaise Pascal