day no. 12,757: we walk by faith and not by sight‏

My morning mate,Oswald, dropped this gem this AM:

 

I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.

 

I love being wise.

I hate being foolish.

It makes me feel…. like a fool.

Following Jesus may involve feeling foolish in light of your desire to protect yourself from shame.

 

Following Jesus may cost you your opinion of yourself.

 

1 Corinthians 1:19-29

¹⁹ For it is written,

 

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

 

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Conventional American proverbial wisdom persuades us to, “never give up!”

The Bible urges exactly the opposite.

 

2 Corinthians 5:6-7

 

⁶ So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight.

 

Faith is not shutting your eyes.

Faith is walking when you’re unable to see.

Not because you won’t see, but because it’s difficult to see.

 

Faith is walking while trusting in what you’ve seen, not refusing to walk until you can again see.