Living by Faith

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Today's post is brought to you by my procrastination of applying for a parking permit at the hospital I work at. I was thinking about driving. Parking. Cars. That sort of stuff. And so, here goes. Enjoy the drive (insert winking emoji and lame pun eye-roll) through this post.

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First, a serious question:

*What is a missionary's favorite type of car?*

*A convertible.*

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Shameless plug for Love Africa Mission, because the humor is almost as good as the mission teams are solid. Go check them out. #jokecreds

When you drive your car, you drive by faith. Right? 

  • You have faith in your battery - that it will start.
  • You have faith in your engine - that it will run. 
  • You have faith in your tires - that they won't explode or go flat.
  • You have faith in your seatbelt - that it will hold you to your seat and keep you safe should anything go awry (or else you wouldn't wear it, right?).
  • You have faith in other drivers, that they won't be running through the intersections on red lights: When your light is green, you have faith that in the other direction, the lights are red. 
Yes, there are always the exceptions... and perhaps you don't have faith in your battery or in some specific element of your car. As many of us have experienced, our cars fail us sometimes. Other drivers fail. We fail. 

Yet, we still drive places, because driving gets us where we need to go. 

Living by faith is a lot like the concept of "driving by faith." Except, your faith is in something a whole lot more reliable than a car. Living by faith is trusting God with your life. You see a green light and you go. You see a red light and you stop. You continue driving down the road that God is paving for your life. When we drive our cars, it is nice to see where we're going. With life... well, we can't always see where we're going. Therefore, faith (in Jesus) is all the more important.

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"For we walk by faith, not by sight." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7

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Because we can't always see what is coming, we have to "live by faith." But what is faith? In Hebrews 11, we see that it is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." When we trust God, we are able to move on with our days, move on with our lives, and live joyfully in the fact that God's plan is the best one.

I'm not saying that we should be complacent and just say, "well, whatever happens happens, I don't have to do anything, I'm living by faith." No. Not at all. As a wise friend once told me, "you can't turn a car unless it's moving." You can't mature in your faith unless you're moving forward. You can't get out of old habits unless you're pursuing the new. Faith is shown by how you live. Action is the fruit of faith. And let's be honest... EVERYONE has faith in something. Whether or not you have faith in Jesus, you've got your faith in something. Is it going to carry you through life? Only faith in Jesus will.

To live by faith is to walk by faith, and to walk by faith is to step out in faith.

Need examples of faithful people in the Bible? Go read Hebrews 11. It's worth the read. 

Now... take a rabbit trail with me for a quick minute and think of a trust fall. When you fall backwards, you can't see the person who says they're going to catch you. If you say you trust they'll catch you, and then you don't fall, does that prove that you trust them? No. But, if you say you trust they'll catch you, and then you fall, you prove (by your action) that your faith is in their ability to catch you. But, you've got to fall. 

Ok, back to driving. When you get in your car today, wherever you're going, I want you to think of every action you're taking that shows you're driving by faith. Are you living your personal life IN FAITH in the same sort of way? How are you trusting God? How are you acting out your faith? No, you're not going to do it perfectly. Neither am I. 

Today, be reminded that Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12). Let Him be your drive. You're welcome for that last pun.

In conclusion, I'll give you one more funny example of living by faith (and not by sight). Here's a picture of me at the Grand Canyon. I do have faith that the Grand Canyon exists... although I didn't really get to see it. I caught a few glimpses, but mostly, there was fog.

In the fog of life, it is easy to forget that the Creator of the Universe is on our side. He wants us to live by faith. He is working. He is there. Whether or not you see or feel Him at any given moment, trust Him. Let your life be like a trust fall. Or, like a car. Keep driving.


#spreadtheword



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