Faith versus Sight

Faith versus Sight: The Christian journey starts with faith and ends with sight. Job, a man who lived hundreds of years before the coming of the Messiah and the canonisation of Scripture, declared in chapter 19 verse 27 of his book, “I myself will see Him with my own eyes, I and not another.” In verse 11 of Acts chapter 1, angels told the disciples of Jesus, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

Some of us might say, “But God categorically stated in Exodus 33:20, “No man can see My face and live.” So, who are we going to see at the end of our spiritual journey? Can God contradict Himself? Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ is the express image of the Father. The Lord Himself clarified this in John 14:9 when He told Philips that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father. In essence, God manifests Himself in His Son or as Paul said in 1 Timothy 3:16, Christ is God manifested in the flesh.

On the other hand, the world thrives on sight alone as captured in the saying, “seeing is believing,” which explains the human fascination with sight rather than faith. Even believers find it difficult to trust God and His word. Thus, many of us end up opening ourselves up to false prophets who claim to have the ability to see into the spirit world and to receive exotic revelations from God.

This explains why many so-called churches where prophesy is given pride of place attract the most patronage. Why do we want to know what tomorrow brings if we have confidence in God’s providence and protection? The recourse to personal prophetic messages stems from lack of trust in God, and it is actually another level of rebellion against His authority. The quest for personal prophesy is actually spurred by familiar spirits and their work amounts to divination, an act condemned by God in several Scriptures, including Leviticus 19:26-31.

 As believers, we are called to walk by faith and not by sight. We do not wait for a manifestation to believe the word of God. We also do not pick Scriptures randomly and try to make them work for us. I read the story of 3 Chinese girls who got drowned in flood water because they tried to mimic the Lord Jesus Christ by walking on water.

We do not act on the letter of the word, because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). The Lord said in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

The spoken word of God is called ‘Rhema’, while the written word is the ‘Logos.’ Both are important but serve different functions. The Logos is the sword of the Holy Spirit. When He puts life into the Logos, it becomes the Rhema, the spoken word of God. When God gives us specific instructions regarding our personal lives, He quickens the Logos in the power of the Holy Spirit. This can come as revelation while we are reading the Bible, in a still small voice, dreams, and visions, as well as through other people. The Lord knows how to communicate His thoughts to each of us, based on our unique personality traits and spiritual maturity.

Apart from our personal interactions with the Father through the Holy Spirit, there are general instructions for all believers in the Logos of His word, the Holy Scriptures. For instance, we cannot willingly ignore His moral laws contained in the 10 Commandments just because Christ has paid for our sins. Paul emphasized that we can only meet the righteous requirements of the Law if we are led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).

In essence, walking by faith requires total submission to the will of God and the willingness to be led by His Spirit. Romans 8:14 is unequivocal that only those led by the Holy Spirit belong to God.         My candid advice is that believers should stop running to and fro looking for personal prophecies. Not only are you engaging in divination, you are building your Christian foundation on quick sand.

God wants you to trust Him with your life. Has He not done enough for you to hand over the steering of your life to Him to help you finish you course with joy? Walking by sight is traumatising because it allows satan to play poker with you emotions. You do not need this kind of stress my beloved. Let go and let God assume total control of your life. This is the only way to enjoy His peace maximally.