When Faith and Sight Intersect

Yesterday we experienced an answer to prayer, a prayer we trusted God to answer in His time and will, yet when the answer came, our reaction was great surprise and joy. It reminded me of the story in Acts where Christians were praying for Peter who was in jail. God released him and he went to the prayer place. The woman who answered the door was so surprised that she left him at the door to run and tell the others. We believe God hears and answers, so why are we so surprised!

The Bible tells me to walk by faith, not by sight. That is, don’t rely on what I see but on God who can change things that I see. Our prayers are not about seeing but trusting, yet when He answers and the answers are visible, we are surprised. Perhaps surprise is more about human nature than faith? I’m not certain.

Today’s devotional is about four ways God reveals His will to us. They are through: Scripture, circumstances, convictions He gives to other advisers, and that inner ‘voice’ of the Holy Spirit in our minds. All these will agree if the Lord is indeed speaking. The world, our old nature, and the devil may not, but God's voice will always be in harmony with itself no matter how many different ways He may speak.

The Scriptures come first, so knowing the Word of God is vital, not just knowing what it says but rightly interpreting it. This will be in harmony with the Holy Spirit for He is the One who reveals truth to us. That is vital, but so is our receptivity. For instance, we need to be like little children. As one pastor said, the distinctive nature of a child is receptivity:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; (Matthew 11:25)

Of course that means being a child that is in His family. That happens through relationship. Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God (John 17) and that happens also by revelation:

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)

God also reveals what I need to know so I can be transformed. That happens as He reveals Jesus to me and as I gaze at Him, I am transformed into that likeness.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:17-18)

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

(God) was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; (Galatians 1:16)

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (Philippians 3:15)

In these verses, faith does become sight. That is, when God reveals Jesus to me and I am changed, and those changes are meant to be visible and like Jesus. When He tells me what to do and I obey, His revelation is seen in my obedience. If I have a contrary idea and He reveals that to me, the resulting change is seen in my talk and walk. Even so, those changes happen because I’ve believed God.

In other words, a life of faith is not only about what is believed but the visible results that are a result of believing what God reveals to me. As James says:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14–17)

PRAY: Jesus, I can see how that well-known statement, “walk by faith not by sight” is talking about my life. Trust is not based on what I can easily see, but on who You are and what You tell me.  However it is clear that a ‘walk by faith not by sight’ is effective because that walk can be seen by those who watch me or anyone else whose faith governs how they live. May I faithfully and visibly display Your grace and goodness.