ON THE VANGUARD

WALK BY FAITH
“Trusting (faith) is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 CJB

I have shared in the past that growing up my parents were very strict in the music that they allowed us to listen to. If it didn’t praise God, it didn’t belong in the home. Well in many ways I have kept this same principle in my own home, and as such, found a song stuck in my head over the weekend. One of the many artists I listened to while growing up was Crystal Lewis; and one of my favorite songs of hers was Rock Solid. Now when I first heard this tune in 1990, rap was still cool, so I immediately feel in love with it. This weekend, though, as it played over and over in my head, the rap was the only part I could remember – and maybe for good reason. God has been speaking to me about faith recently and these lyrics address just this point. “Hold on tight / You’re almost through the night / You gotta walk by faith and not by sight. / From dusk to dawn your name will be exalted / Man what you call it, rock solid.”
So even with a cheesy line or so in rap’s early day, the message still fits for today. God is looking for those who walk by faith. The Bible records a whole chapter of men and women who walked by faith. They were honored because of this lifestyle. And it is this same lifestyle that I feel God is wanting to increase in me. Now I know that I spoke of the story of Isaac and Rebekah recently, but think back again with me on this account. Not knowing anything about Isaac but instead following the leading of God, Rebekah agreed to go with the servant to the home of Isaac. To me, that speaks of faith. By faith, Joseph saw the greater potential of his being sold into slavery by his brothers. His trust and belief in God never left but instead he kept clinging to the fact that something greater was being worked out in the background. And by faith, Joshua marched around a city whose walls were so thick that they held chariot races on top, and blew the shofar and gave a shout. Stepping out on what may have looked like insanity, the army Joshua led was victorious.
The truth is that God’s ways are not always sensible. In fact, many times they are crazy. I remember a time back in my childhood when I was at church. The minister was on the stage praying over people and invited those who had a word to come up and share. I remember feeling this nudge in my spirit to go up and say something. I fought it till finally I could no longer. I remember turning to my mom and saying, “I think I got something,” and her urging me to go up. So I spoke it to the leader. “I think someone here has athlete’s foot and God wants to heal you.” I didn’t even know what athlete’s foot was. But sure enough, people came up. In what felt like a crazy moment, God used it to build my faith in Him.
So I find myself in a place again where I hear Him speaking to me, but I am afraid to move. The words He speaks do not make sense to me. I have too many unanswered questions about what He is asking. It was for this reason I went walking yesterday. I needed time away from the TV, away from the computer, and away from all distractions so I could hear His voice once more. In some ways I was hoping to talk God out of what I felt He was saying. But instead, all I heard were these words. “Walk by faith.” It might not make sense, but His response is to walk by faith. It might not be the way I expected, yet He says to walk by faith. And I may not know the full final outcome, and still He says walk by faith. There is no point arguing any longer with God. It is time to walk by faith.