BY CALM AND SIGHT

There is an old saying about “seeing is believing.” While it is true that knowing is so much easier when you can actually see something in terms of knowing it is true. Such visual confidence does lesson the angst of anxiety. It can relief stress and allow us to relax when doubt swirl in the head over a given problem.

With the life of faith of course, we do not walk by sight. Trust is by very definition the capacity to have faith in the unseen. At least in spiritual terms it applies on that level.

Still that does keep us from craving the absence of stress or capacity to know something with complete certainty. And the question might be posed does God truly understand our capacity and need for such assurance by sight alone?

I think the answer is yes. But the only problem is if the Lord for example manifested himself in some form we could see that wouldn’t guarantee that we would have our faith strengthened. I wish that was the case, but it isn’t.

A good account of that reality can be seen in the behavior of the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness. Time and time again God proved himself to them by one miracle after another. And the next crisis still found them doubting God’s ability to meet their needs.

We might protest and thing we are somehow different. That if God parted the Red Sea for us we would never doubt again? But I think the truth is that wouldn’t happen.

I can’t speak for anyone else. I just know that in my own life even though I have experience God’s provision on countless occasions as well as his grace, love and not to mention forgiveness it hasn’t prevented me from having doubts in times of crisis. More experience doesn’t always guarantee more faith or maturity.

So what should we do if we find ourselves in some crisis and instead of claiming a promise of God we cave inwards and get full of doubts? Or we end up complaining and getting upset?

The answer is simple. Learn from the experience. Respond as God would lead, bring it to the Lord and most of all don’t give up. Many is the follower who draws a line in the sand so to speak and makes faith and all or nothing situation. If they fail they have no capacity to start over.

God is longsuffering and forgiving, but we have to turn to him and accept who we really are. Excusing our failure isn’t the solution. Rationalizing how we are still more obedient or faithful that somebody else doesn’t do it either.

Instead we have to learn how it proves we are other than as mature as we think. And to rejoice that God will still love us despite the fact that we aren’t as perfect as we assumed. Then we take another step of faith and keep trusting. In the quiet shall come the pure calm of forgiveness and the type of sight that doesn’t turn blurring from dishonesty.