What does faith look like?
On our best days, we like to think faith looks like hiking a mountain trail on a beautiful blue-sky morning, with nothing but trees and rocks and brooks for miles, but knowing that when you get to the top, you will see the panoramas that have always been there. The joy and sweat, and obstacles, and stumbles are all part of the journey. But it's all worth it because once you get to the summit, there it is in all of its breathtaking, never-gets-dull beauty: Glory.
But maybe faith more often than not looks like hiking a mountain trail on a gray October morning, like yesterday, with nothing but trees and rocks and brooks for miles, but instead of being rewarded with the expected panoramas at the summit, you see...fog. The details of the landscape are all fuzzy. "Where's the big picture? I want to know what it looks like." You want to grab the remote and switch it all to vibrant HD color, but you can't. And with that thought, a jolting reminder: in the journey of faith, there is no remote to grab anyway...
“... Faith is having the courage to let God have control*.”
This particular hike, not the one where everything is sunny and clear, is the real deal, and despite all appearances is the good and right path. Fog along the way is all part of the plan, because if everything made sense and turned out as expected every single time, who would need to believe in a huge God who has never failed on every promise He's ever made? There would be no communion, no relationship, no chance to daily experience the best kind of Love of them all. It would be all about us, and that sort of thing never has a happy ending. This is the kind of hike for which the writer of the book of Hebrews commends those who have gone before us...
Men and women who didn't go to seminary but who nevertheless made a habit of taking God at His word, no matter what the weather, and stepping out, trusting Him for the landing of the next step, assured it was there but still not sure what to expect.
Everyday men and women who had fears and doubts and yet courage and Godfidence*, who like Noah perhaps wasn't sure about this ark thing and yet believed God when all around scoffed, and who like Abraham had a "tent"-living mentality about not settling in to the things of this world like everyone else but living in and enjoying it all the while focused on the naturally supernatural ways of the place that is truly Home. And bringing some of that to the 24/7 routine.
Regular folks who left a legacy for us by determining through trials and triumphs alike that eternal treasure always wins over passing pleasure because as enjoyable as the latter can be, the former always lasts and never loses its joy. And, who like Joshua at the walls of Jericho, reminds us that sometimes standing on God's promises requires a willingness to step out in faith and do what seems foolish and illogical to some, and totally out of your comfort zone....
My hiking companion, who like me had hoped to see nothing but blue skies, surveyed the foggy summit and said something rather unexpected but spot-on, to the effect of, "I like this, too. It's peaceful." Because as much as we think we'd like to be holding that remote, we know we'd make a mess of things really fast. The fog of life is a reminder that there is great peace in a faith that holds fast to the One who has not only blazed every trail but created them, Who always knows the way, and Who is before us, behind us, and beside us every step of the way. Who is never confined by circumstance or weather or anything else but is always there in all of His breathtaking, never-gets-dull beauty: Glory.
And just as two hikers on a beautifully murky October morning continue their journey, so does Hebrews 11 walk in to the "never give up" encouragement of the opening words of Hebrews 12:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith..."
...Even in the fog.
* Pastor Lon Dean, House of Praise, Castleton-On-Hudson, NY.
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