When living by faith IS living by sight

We live in a world that loves clear cut answers - a constant test filled with multiple choice, fill in the blank, and true or false. But very little open-ended. We are in an age of constant communication and immediate answers. An undetermined 5-year-plan or a lack of a quick fix for a big problem is unacceptable. Not knowing makes our society extremely uncomfortable.

Faith, however, requires an acceptance of that which is still left unclear and a trust that God will do the answering for you. Hebrews 11:1 defines it this way: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  Other translations substitute those bolded words for words like: sure, certain, the convictions, the firm foundation, the substance, the evidence, the confirmation, the title deed, the proof! I love that - those are some seriously strong words we are talking about here. So faith is not just a wishy-washy, sparkly kind of hope that things will turn out alright - it is being certain that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28). Faith is also not merely believing that God does exist. James pretty humorously gets rid of that misconception by saying "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror."  (James 2:19)  What matters to obtain faith is not necessarily believing, of course that's an important starting point, but the substance of faith is trusting and depending on who you believe in.

One of the reasons why I can personally and completely trust God with my life, especially when it comes to a crossroad, is because I've seen Him work great things in the past. I know it will happen because I've seen it happen before - God has a reputation.

(*The following is not an uplifting example for us Philly fans, I know and apologize)  Let's talk odds.. you would probably put some money on the Yankees winning another World Series down the line because it has happened a couple dozen times in the past. That's faith in the Yankees because of evidence, statistics, proof - not a wishy-washy hope that they just might win one day. Faith in God works in the same way; not just in my life, not just in this generation or this century... but for thousands and thousands of years, people have put their faith in God and He has rewarded that.

As my little family comes to another crossroads, it's often difficult for people to hear that we have no idea what we are going to do. Not that we don't think over our options, we do. But we leave the details to God. We roll with what He throws at us and pray that we can continue to lean on Him for guidance. We are trusting that we will see His hand at work in our lives because we have seen it before, and often the result is 10x better than anything we could come up with on our own.

When I was broken on a dirty, dorm room floor - I trusted. When I was betrayed and left alone - He stayed right next to me. When I was overwhelmed - He took my burdens. When we left all our family and friends and moved away - He blessed our life abundantly. When we weren't sure if we could make it that month - He provided ALL of our needs. Faith has taken me from where I was going to where God knew I could be. God is faithful, and faith is trusting in a God you know is entirely able.