Ever hear a song lyric that just strikes you?  Check this one out:

There’s a day that’s drawing near,
When this darkness breaks to light;
And the shadows disappear,
And my faith shall be my eyes.

“My faith shall be my eyes…” what a powerful lyric – oh, that I would see with eyes of faith, instead of looking at the circumstances surrounding me. My God is bigger than my circumstances. Bigger than my giant. Bigger than my storm.

Lord, let the darkness and shadows of what my eyes see disappear in the light of faith. Let my faith be my eyes.

We walk by faith, NOT by sight… II Corinthians 5:7

When we see with our faith instead of believing the circumstances around us, we behave differently. Our outlook is brighter, and we are thankful. Regardless of what we say, our actions reveal what we truly believe. Do I believe God, or do I believe what I can physically see? Is God’s Word my reality, or is my reality based on the wisdom of this world? Am I going to respond to the curve-balls life throws me based on what I can see, or what God has said? This is why James said:

Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (2:18)

Being a bit of a realist who tends more toward pessimism than optimism, this is a difficult concept for me – easy to understand, but difficult to put into practice. But I am determined to practice. To practice faith. To allow my actions to be governed by the Word of God rather than by fear.

And therein lies the question: can I do this? Can I, in my own strength, walk more by faith than by sight? Can I trump up enough faith within me so that I no longer cower when confronted by my fears? I can say I believe, but when I am standing on the edge of the cliff, and the only way to move is forward, do I step off into the unknown, confident that I am stepping onto solid ground that I cannot see, or do I freeze where I am and refuse to move, because all I can see are the depths beneath me?

Let’s be real. In my own strength, I hide from the storm. I cower before the giant. I freeze at the edge of the cliff. Within myself, I do not possess the faith to face my fears with strength and courage.

What hope then is there for me? Am I destined to live forever tormented by my fears, a victim of my circumstances, battered by the storm, struck down by the giant, and frozen in the face of the unknown? Where can I get this faith that, as hard and as often as I have tried, I cannot come up with?

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD. Romans 10:17

What exactly does this mean, that hearing comes by the Word of God? A bit of tooling around in different commentaries showed that, “by the Word of God” in this passage means that the message from God about Himself is delivered at His command (by His Word).

…all Scripture is given by inspiration of God… II Timothy 3:16

It is in hearing and receiving this Word from Him, about Him, that we receive faith.
So it stands to reason that the more we hear and receive God’s message to us about Himself, the more faith we will have. And as a result, our works of faith – our moving in faith – our perceivable actions – will follow.

And then there is His living message – the Word made flesh.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 1:1

Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus Himself was God’s direct revelation to us of Himself. He was the message of love and goodwill. What was the announcement the angels made when Jesus arrived? It was “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14

God revealed His true intentions toward us when He sent His Son – His Word – to restore relationship with us.

Jesus Himself is the author and the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

When we finally understand that Jesus was God’s message to us that He has nothing but good intentions toward us, it becomes less difficult to believe that He intends to intervene in our life circumstances.

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32

He gave me His Son. Will He not also be my shelter in the storm?
He gave me His Son. Will He not also slay the giant before me?
He gave me His Son. Will He not also make a way as I step out in faith?

You can trust Him, my friend. I can trust Him. When we look at our lives through the lense of His message to us, through His Son Jesus, and the sacrifice He was willing to make to secure our relationship with Him, nothing is impossible. There is no good thing that He is unwilling to do for us. We are that dear and that precious to Him. He proved it at Calvary. Believe it. Receive it. Saturate your mind and heart with His Word of Love to you. Choose to believe what you cannot see, and let your faith become your eyes.