Walking By Faith and Not By Sight (2)
By Femi Aribisala
Although God is invisible, when we walk by faith, we know He is with us and can see Him with our hearts. I once caught God looking through my eyes. He was not looking at me. He was looking through the window of my eyes.
We have two eyes, but they must be single. We must see the physical in the light of the spiritual. We must see the visible in the light of the invisible. Even as we only fully understand the Old Testament in the light of our understanding of the New Testament, even so, we must interpret the physical by the invisible.
In all cases, our focus must always be on knowing what God is doing. It means we are interrogating situations and circumstances. We are asking God questions. We know He is behind everything. So, we ask: “Daddy, what are you doing?” “Daddy, what do you mean by doing this?” “Daddy, why are you doing this like this?”
The answer is always to trust God. The answer is always in knowing that no weapon fashioned against us can prosper. Knowing that all things work together for our good. Confident that God always causes us to triumph in Christ. Recognising that Jesus has overcome the world.
Spiritual warfare
Living by faith means we are always engaged in spiritual warfare. It means our physical and spiritual lives are lived as one. We know what is happening in the physical is being controlled or manipulated by what is going on in the spiritual. We know the devil, who often manipulates the physical, is a liar. Therefore, we don’t believe our lying physical eyes. We rely on our spiritual eyesight.
If we walk by sight, we can only do the possible. But if we walk by faith, we can do the impossible. We can even walk on water. This is because we know that the God with whom nothing shall be impossible is with us. He is the doer of the work. David acknowledges that God Most High: “performs all things for (us).” (Psalm 57:2).
Peter got out of the boat to walk on water by faith in Christ. But he started to drown when he started walking by sight. This is because walking by sight brings anxiety. But walking by faith brings peace. Therefore, child of God, don’t believe your eyes. Believe your God.
Eye of faith
Do you see with your natural eyes? See what eyes cannot, and have not, seen. See with your eye of faith. The scriptures say of the men and women of the Hall of Faith in the book of Hebrews: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13-14).
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The bible tells us that our God Himself is not constrained by the visible. Paul says God, who gives life to the dead: “calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” (Romans 4:17). Therefore, he prescribes the same approach for us. He says we should stop looking at the things that are seen and start looking at the invisible: “For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Blessing of faith
When the disciples told Thomas that Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared physically to them, he would not believe. He said to them: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25).
Therefore, Jesus appeared in his presence: “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” (John 20:27-29).
In the world, they say: “seeing is believing.” However, believers in Jesus believe to see. If we say seeing is believing, we cannot walk with God for God is invisible. But if we believe to see, we will receive a great blessing. Only those who believe to see can see the glory of God.
Thus, Jesus said to Martha before He raised Lazarus from the dead: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:30). David expressed the same sentiment: “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13).
The bible says: “The just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4). When we do, the word of God defines reality for us. That means we not only believe in the promises of God, we walk according to them. We also talk about them, confident of their fulfilment for: “From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.” (Proverbs 18:20).
Indeed, those who walk by faith see things in the past tense, knowing God’s promises are fulfilled in the spirit long before they manifest in the flesh and in the world.
So, if God says he is going to make you rich, what should you expect? You should expect the evidence of what you do not see. Expect the contradiction first. Expect to become poor and then you will become rich. Remember this: “The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.” (1 Samuel 2:7).
Saved by Faith
Recently, I decided to walk from my office to my bank rather than go by car. To do that, I had to cross a major road, Adetokunbo Ademola. It was a one-way street, divided in the middle by a big intersection. I waited patiently for the cars coming on the road to pass by. When it was free, I decided to make a move.
But God cautioned me. “Femi,” He said. “The fact that it is a one-way street does not mean you should not look on the other side. Look on the other side before you cross.”
I obeyed immediately. I looked on the other side, only to discover that there was no impediment, then crossed the road. But I completely forgot about this injunction on my way back. I had to cross again the same one-way road from the other side, so I waited again patiently until there was no car coming.
But as I took a step to cross over, a motorcycle moving at top speed on the wrong side of the road whizzed past me. I had forgotten to look at the other side because it was a one-way street. Had the motorcycle been just fractionally slower, it would have killed me because I would have moved right in front of it.
My life was saved by my faith in God who is my eyes.
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