By Faith

I am not a fan of twisty, steep, narrow roads. Especially when there is a minorly significant drop off to the side, no guard rail, and construction every mile or so. Especially when I'm being tailgated.

Fortunately, there isn't a fan club for twisty, steep, narrow roads in the fog.

As I was inching along a twisty, steep, narrow road in the fog the other day, I was enjoying not being tailgated. I also started comparing my foggy drives with my clear drives. I was trying to decide whether I disliked it more when I could see the drop off, or when I couldn't see the drop off.

More, I got to thinking about the life of faith and how often it seems like walking by faith is like driving in the fog. After all, it often seems that my whole life is dependent on unseens and intangibles. I am always having to change my ways to stay in His way. His way is hard. And it can be awfully lonely. In other words, it's full of curves, it gets a bit steep, and Jesus Himself called it narrow. Plus, I never know what He will do next.

But then comes this simple statement of fact:

"...we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I never quite realized before that this is an either/or statement. I can't walk by faith and sight any more than I can go barefoot and wear shoes. If I'm really operating under faith, what I see won't effect my course of action. If I'm living by sight, what I can't see won't really sway my choices.

And so I must choose. Faith. Or sight.

And the key to walking by faith?

Understanding that the road is twisty, steep, and narrow. There is a drop off to the side with no guard rail. I don't always seem to be making progress. And other people would love to push me off the road. To make the trip more interesting, the fog closes in occasionally.

But I'm not driving.

And no matter what the Driver does and where He takes me, it will be right. And I will be safe.