DAY 11 – We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight
Read
Luke 2:1-7; 2 Corinthians 5:1-7
When Caesar Augustus decided to take a census, the timing couldn’t have been worse for Joseph and Mary. They weren’t married and Mary was due any day. Bethlehem is immortalized to us now, but imagine what the journey meant for Joseph and Mary. There are many things a heavily pregnant woman wants to do, and none of them start with walking 70 miles to your soon-to-be-in-law’s house.
“We walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7
How do we walk by faith when life is complicated and takes unexpected twists and turns? When the diagnosis isn’t what you hoped for? When your son or daughter rejects the values, you raised them with? When the company downsizes? It could be any number of things. So how do we walk by faith when it’s hard?
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” When we are putting our faith in God, we are trusting that God will do what we cannot do and that He sees answers to our problems we do not see. And then, we begin walking…we begin walking through our day…walking through the struggle…prayerfully, expectantly knowing that God is in charge. Bad things do happen, but God’s promise to us is that He works all things together for good (Romans 8:28).
When it was hard to understand, Joseph and Mary started walking to Bethlehem (or maybe Joseph walked and Mary rode a donkey…we don’t really know), but what we do know is that they started the journey, prayerfully trusting that God was with them and He was going to work everything out.
We can do the same. We can begin the journey and trust God to guide us to where He wants and needs us to be.
Reflect:
- Right now, where are you struggling to trust God?
- Spend some time praying a prayer that goes something like this: “Lord, I trust you with this _______________ (struggle). Thank you for being with me and guiding me through it. And Lord, may Your will be done. And may I become the person you want me to be – doing what you want me to do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”