Walk by Faith not by Sight: Which Message will You Believe?
“And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” Deuteronomy 1: 27.
The Israelites were in bondage to pharaoh in Egypt for over 400 years. God heard their cries for deliverance and promised them a fertile, fruitful land of abundance. But they had to go through the wilderness to get there. This was such a difficult journey that they began to lose faith.
To read the passage for context, click here
The Israelites thought the Lord hated them when they were in the wilderness because it was such an apparent contradiction to His promise. He had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3: 8). And also, a contradiction to the truth that He loved them.
Walk by Faith Not by Sight in a Barren Wasteland
The wilderness, so far from being a land flowing with milk and honey was a dead, dry, barren wasteland. It couldn’t even sustain life.
What’s more, they were exposed to their enemies and no one and nowhere to turn for help. If one was to judge by circumstances, it would seem like the Lord hated them rather than loved them.
This is how wilderness experiences are for us too. We have glorious promises, just as the Israelites did. But the fulfillment of those promises is nowhere in sight.
In fact, if anything, what we’re experiencing seems to be a contradiction of the promise. And of the truth that He loves us.
We Have to Choose Which Message to Believe
I’ve been through many a wilderness experiences. At one point the Lord had promised me usefulness and abundance. But, for a long time they were just that- promises with no tangible evidence of fulfillment. During that time I was:
- Had overwhelming anxiety
- Without a husband or friends. I wasn’t particularly close to my teenage kids at the time. And the small group I belonged to was distant or hostile.
- The mother of children with issues
- Living in a 40-year-old, decrepit mobile home
- Working at a low pay nursing job that garnered little respect
- Always doing something wrong at work
When I looked at this list of problems, it was easy to be tempted to think the Lord hates me, just like the Israelites. I think this is the temptation in any wilderness experience. It’s just the nature of the beast.
The physical wilderness of Sinai was about as far from and opposite to the promise land as you could get. This is true of our figurative wilderness experiences too.
God had promised me honor, usefulness, abundance. But I was instead experiencing dishonor, barrenness and poverty. But the word we must cling to in the wilderness is this:
Do Not Throw Away your Confidence
“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” Hebrews 10: 35, 36.
Even though my circumstances made it seem like the promises weren’t true and that God hated me, I had to learn to walk by faith in His promises and not by sight of my circumstances.
In fact, that’s the whole point of the wilderness. We cannot learn to walk by faith anywhere else but in the wilderness. Once the promise has been fulfilled, we no longer need faith.
We Can’t Learn to Walk by Faith and Not by Sight Anywhere Else
It’s when we’re still waiting that everything around us seems to scream it will never happen that we learn to believe God’s promises. The only time we can learn faith is when we are yet hoping for what is unseen (Hebrews 11: 1).
Jeremiah 29: 11 says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”. Our wilderness seems to scream “evil!”, “God hates you!” in our ears.
But we must endure in our faith that despite how things look, He has welfare in mind. And He loves us. We must choose whether we’re going to believe the message of our circumstances (God hates me) or the message of God’s word (He loves me).
Choose to Believe Welfare, Not Evil
The one we choose to believe will determine our actions, character and ultimately our destiny.
My life has drastically improved from that day exactly 18 years ago when I wrote that list.
- The anxiety is gone
- I am still without a husband by choice. But I am much closer to my children and my small group nourishes my soul.
- My children are still not free of problems. But I rejoice to see how they are changing and growing.
- I traded in the mobile home for a beautiful home in the country.
- I am now a public health nurse for the second largest county in my state. Best job ever!
- Am perfectly suited to the work I am now doing and no longer making mistakes.
This is not to say everything is perfect by any means. But we can trust that the Lord will be faithful to His promises as we choose to walk by faith and not sight!
To read another related Walk by Faith, not by Sight: Which Message will you Believe? post see The Judgment of God: The Greatest Gift to His People.