by Scott H. Northrup
A few years ago I took up fishing as a hobby. I assured myself that I would never reach the stage of fanaticism where I would enter one of those night bass tournaments. Well, a couple of Friday nights ago I participated in my first night bass tournament with a group of men from our church called the Net Minders. I could tell you about a huge bass that I almost got to the boat before my line snapped, that would have won the tournament, but, nah, you wouldn't believe me anyway. Those guys didn't either.
I will tell you how incredibly dark it can get on Center Hill Lake at night when there is no moon. Off we went, tearing down the lake with that big rooster tail of water spraying behind us. Into my favorite fishing cove we roared. My poor partner, Ed, was sitting next to me in the boat as we hydroplaned into that cove, and all he could see were the massive dark banks brooding over us, looking so close at hand that one could almost reach out and touch them. I heard him in a faint voice say, "I sure do hope you know where you're going." In reality, I wasn't even looking at the banks. If I had, I might have been scared, too. As it was, I was confidently following a preprogrammed track on my GPS (Global Positioning System) that, as long as I stayed on that track, we wouldn't hit dirt.
Later I got to meditating about following that GPS. You know, it's a lot like walking by faith. The person of God is to "walk by faith and not by sight." In other words, you are not to be led exclusively by what you can see, feel, and touch. You are to be led by something you CAN'T perceive with your natural senses. But you are led nonetheless. You are focusing on the unseen realm and getting your directions from it. You are focusing on the Word of God, the promises of God. Following that GPS track is just like following the Word of God. That track was laid down beforehand by Jesus, and all we have to do is simply follow it. The GPS takes its coordinates from satellites orbiting the earth. Trusting in God's Word is like anchoring yourself to heaven's coordinates.
My partner, Ed, could only see those dark menacing banks looming over us, and it understandably produced apprehension in his mind. The same thing happens when you and I focus on the circumstances around us. When all you consider is the doctor's bad report, or the bad news on TV, it is inevitable that you will get into fear, and fear is the opposite of faith. But when you choose to consistently and intensely focus on what God has said about your circumstances, faith will arise in your heart.
Living by and walking by faith is completely based on what you are choosing to pay attention to. It is a choice. It is a decision, not a feeling.
Father Abraham considered not his own body, which was almost 100 years old, nor did he consider the deadness of Sarah's womb. He was considering God's promise that he would have a son. He did not decide against the promise of God, but was empowered by faith, and was fully persuaded that what God had promised, God was also able and willing to perform. The word of God was higher and more real in his consideration than the condition of his own body. That's what faith is all about.
If you need to see or feel that your body is well BEFORE you'll believe you're healed, you're not in faith. How could faith possibly bring healing to you if you'll only believe AFTER the fact? On the other hand, if you can pray for healing, and then confidently believe you're healed because the word says so, BEFORE the symptoms in your body change, you are walking by faith, and the force of faith will be operating to produce a cure.
Doubting Thomas only believed in the resurrection of Jesus AFTER he had seen Jesus alive from the dead. Jesus called him faithless, and said that we are blessed who have not seen, and yet believe.
Faith in God is not blind, or in denial. It is simply in contact with a transcendent source of knowledge communicated by the Holy Spirit. I strongly encourage you to get in touch with that Source. He will change your life. And, oh, bass fishing is pretty good, too.
@ copyright 2005 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.