This past Sunday, I ventured out early in the morning before church for a walk ~ it was still a bit dark out there. For the first half of my venture, I was facing the moon ~ which I couldn’t see due to the still dark sky and dark cloud cover. On the return trip, I was facing the sun ~ which I couldn’t see either since it hadn’t risen yet.
Though I couldn’t really see the sun or the moon, I could see clear evidence that they were there and that they actually existed. I was reminded that walking by faith is similar. Sometimes on our journey in life, we feel like we can’t see God or His Light reflecting into our lives. His voice seems so distant and quiet. We wonder where He is. But those are the times that we need to look at the evidence:
- remind ourselves of His past faithfulness
- cling to the truths and promises we glean from Scripture (such as Hebrews 13:5b: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”)
- immerse ourselves in God’s Word
- continue to walk in daily obedience
- look for ways to encourage and help others along the way – go visit someone
By continuing to act and live by faith even when we can’t see clearly, God can still work in us and through us to bring glory and honor to Himself, and, eventually, we’ll come out on the other side with a stronger faith.
Is this easy? Absolutely not! For me, it’s making a deliberate choice. When God seems distant, it’s so much easier to wallow in that darkness than to rise up and do something. However, I have experienced joy and victory many times AFTER I have consciously made the choice to act in spite of how I felt. The reward is so much greater than the wallowing! 🙂