Not by Sight

Faith has been coming up in a lot of my conversations recently. According to the writer of Hebrews, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (11:1). Jakob Dylan declares that "faith is believing what you see ain't so." Jennifer Rothschild, the author of our Wednesday night Bible study, says that "it takes just as much faith to bear a burden as it does to believe that it can be removed." I don't want to suggest that I'm putting Jakob Dylan and Jennifer Rothschild on the same plane as scripture, but these are the things I've been hearing and reading.

When we started this Bible study on faith, there was a page where we were invited to write down three areas in which we felt we were "walking in the dark" and in which we would have to "walk by faith, not by sight," as noted in 2 Corinthians 5:7. I wrote down two issues that I am dealing with now and one that I foresee for the future (as if I could foresee the future!)

I am so thankful to report that I can see God working in my life in these relatively small issues, and it gives me hope for the bigger things. This past week, I was responsible for planning field trips for two different groups. (I will just say right here that I love teaching. I love teaching, not going on field trips. But sometimes they intersect.) I was dealing with getting people into acceptable groups and making sure everyone knew what to do and where to go and how to get there. This may not sound like a big deal, but every teacher out there will sympathize.

One of our field trips was on Monday, when we had all that crazy weather. Every step of the way, Mr. Turner and I were saying, "Well, it's not raining yet." We made the whole trip in safety and almost completely without rain. About fifteen minutes after we returned to school, there was an announcement to bring everyone to the downstairs hallway for the tornado watch. Perfect timing. The second one on Wednesday didn't have the drama of bad weather, but it too was successfully completed with no problems and with commendable behavior from all our students. If God can get me through these small things, I know He can get me--and you--through much weightier issues.

We looked at John chapter 2 this week in Sunday School. The water was turned to wine as the servants obeyed Jesus. In Joshua, the waters of the Jordan parted when the priests by faith put their feet into the water. The ten lepers Jesus healed found themselves clean as they went on their way in obedience. Faith requires action. I don't understand just how it all works, but these are the things I am learning as I seek to walk by faith.

--Sherry Poff