Faith isn’t just about believing in a God we can’t see. It’s also about believing in a God that sees what we don’t see. It’s about trusting a God who sees what we can’t see. Because God will certainly ask us to do things we don’t want to do, but He will also ask us to do things that flat out make no sense. And with our limited vision, we often question or rationalize our way out of being obedient, which in turn, can inhibit our faith.
For instance, it’s one thing to give someone in need $100 when you have $1,000 in the bank. But what about when you have $200 in the bank? In the first case, you might not want to give up that $100 but you will if God asks you to, because you have that buffer. In the second case, you’re going to be wondering why God is asking you to give away what little money you have. It’s not going to make sense to give that money to someone in need, when you feel like you’re in need of a blessing too. You could easily convince yourself that keeping the money would be the responsible thing to do. But you don’t see what God sees or know what God knows. That other person might have no money, and the $100 is going to help them eat for the week. God might have a blessing coming your way when your funds start to dwindle towards zero. God sees the bigger picture in every situation. We can try to question Him about everything, but we’d never be able to keep up. We can try to make things make sense, but we can never fully understand God or His ways. What we can do is have faith and believe that God sees it all and that He knows best.
In fact, God might ask us to do something that makes no sense as a way to see how deep our faith in Him goes. True tests of faith happen when we are in uncomfortable and sometimes even painful situations. It’s easy to have faith when you know how everything is going to work out. It’s easy to follow the path God is calling you to when it’s all lit up and you know where you’re going. The hard part is having faith when you don’t know anything. It’s hard to follow the path when it’s dark, you can only see one step ahead, and you don’t even know if you’re moving in the right direction. In those moments, God wants us to put our faith in Him fully and trust Him to reveal what we need with each step we take.
It could be that God is asking us to walk away from a job, a relationship, a location, or even a church. It doesn’t make sense. We’ve been at that job or church for 10 years, in that relationship for 5 years, or we’ve always lived in that location. We’re comfortable and we feel secure where we are, and then we feel that nudging from God to make a change. It doesn’t make sense, but God sees what we can’t see. He sees that the job is going to be under new management soon and things are going to take a turn for the worse. He’s asking you to move on in order to protect you. He sees that the relationship is becoming unhealthy and is draining you. He’s asking you to move on in order to lead you to something better. He sees that there is a location that is better suited for a slower pace of life. He asks you to move so that you can find that work/life balance, lower your stress and have a better quality of life. He sees that there is an opportunity to use your God given gifts and talents in a different church community. He asks you to make that transition so that you can walk more fully in your purpose.
None of these changes are easy. It’s never easy to walk away from what we know into the unknown. There’s always the uncomfortable in-between, where you’ve let go of what’s no longer serving you, but you haven’t yet taken hold of the new blessings waiting for you. There’s that painful process of grieving the old, while also moving toward the new. There’s a period of uncertainty that requires waiting on God and trusting Him through the process. Because we don’t leave the job one day and then find the best job ever the next day. We don’t walk away from the relationship today and meet the person of our dreams tomorrow. It takes time and it takes faith. But we can trust that if we are following and obeying God, He will get us to the other side, where we always find more than we could ask or imagine.
We all have those moments where God asks us to step out of the boat and walk on water and we’re like, How? But faith is not about knowing the HOW, faith is about knowing the WHO. Because if God asks us to take a leap of faith, He won’t show us all the steps to succeed, but He surely won’t let us fail.
God can and will get us to where He is calling us to. He requires us only to bring our faith. Because it is only faith that sustains us through the unknowns, the unanswered questions, the in-betweens and the dark places. And when God asks you to do something that doesn’t make sense, let your faith be the one thing that does.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.