Walk by Faith

The Old Blind Guitarist, Pablo Picasso

There are many Christian phrases that mean so much more to me today than they did before Arthur became a part of my life.  Today in church we sang a song with one of them.

"We'll walk by faith and not by sight."

As you might suppose, the words were set to strong, triumphant music.  Everyone had happy faces as they sang.  But listen to those words.  Do you know what we call someone who doesn't walk by sight in the literal sense of the words?  Blind.  Disabled.  Handicapped. Imagine if we were all singing to the same bold music "Hallelujah!  We can't see where we are going!"  Not quite so uplifting.

Not walking by sight is at best a difficult obstacle and at worst a life-altering disability.  No one hopes to be blind.  You don't walk around with your eyes closed or with a blindfold on, purposefully making yourself unable to see, unless you are a kid playing a game.  And even then, admit it: you were peeking out of the bottom of the blindfold.  The only people who don't walk by sight are people who have no other choice.

Could it be possible that we don't really walk by faith until we can't see?   Until God brings darkness in our lives or obscures the road ahead?  Until we have no other choice but to walk by faith because our sight has been taken away?

I'm reminded of the story of Gideon, one of the heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11, the passage that was the basis for the song we sang in church.  He was supposed to go fight the Midianites, so he collected an army of 32,000.  God told him to let all the scared people go home, so 22,000 of them left.  Then God sent 9,700 of the remaining 10,000 home.  That left Gideon with 300 men.  God put Gideon and those men (and all of Israel, who were counting Gideon's army to rescue them from the Midianites) in a position where they HAD to walk by faith.  They had no choice but to trust that God would deliver them.

I hate the situations when I can't see.  I mean, would you be happy if God decimated your savings account the way He decimated Gideon's army?  And yet it seems clear that He purposefully brings darkness and blindness into our lives so that we can't see, so that we will have no way forward but to walk by faith. We just can't be counted on to put a blindfold on and not peek when we have eyes that work and plenty of light to see by.

So, as odd as it sounds, I am learning to embrace my blindness.  Because I know that He finally has me on a road where I am walking by faith.  And, just as a blind person who has learned to navigate using other senses has no need to fear the darkness, I am finding that God is freeing me from some of my anxiety and fear of other darknesses that may come into my life.  In a strange way, I treasure the night I am in because it has taught me (a little!) to walk by faith and not by sight.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Psalm 23:4a