We live by faith, not by sight.

The longer I walk with Jesus the more interesting, and at times perplexing, I find this life of faith. Why is it that there are clear ‘God moments’ and then extended periods of time can go by without any visible ‘God moments’? Why is the next step clearly seen sometimes and at other times it feels like stumbling in the light of dusk? Why is it easy at times to trust and at other times worry seems to overtake us and jump on us?

Why can’t everything be clear? Why can’t there be ‘God moments’ every day? Why can’t the next step be clearly marked out and outlined with fancy lighting? Why can’t every situation be met with an obvious void of worry?

I’ve had a handful of instances in the last few weeks where the moments were clearly guided and aided by God. Some of the situations turned out in the way that I think God wanted them to turn out. A couple situations didn’t turn out so good. It is always strange how situations can clearly have Jesus’ hand upon them and yet not turn out in a way that seems like they should.

I wish that I could figure out why some of life’s steps are so clear and other steps are not easily seen. I wish I could figure out why certain moments clearly have the visible hand of God on them and other moments things are not that clear.

I bet you are the same way. I bet there are times that you have been able to clearly see the visible work of God and other times that you’ve wondered, at least to yourself, where in the world is God. I bet there have been times when you’ve known exactly what the next step was and other times where you too have sensed that you were stumbling without clear direction.

One of the conclusions I’ve come to is that if I always knew, if the path was always clear, if the voice was always clearly discernible and if life’s steps were always filled with peace, life wouldn’t be called a journey of faith. But a journey of faith is what life is. Sometimes the journey has dark and endless valleys. Other times there are incredible vistas. Unfortunately, or maybe not, we aren’t the ones who control the valleys or the vistas.

We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7