Faith is a personal journey. Thinkstock photoWhen I was a teenager I had a most unusual experience. One spring day I went to a friend’s farm to look for Indian arrowheads in the newly plowed fields and to look for fossils in the nearby creek beds.
My friend and I spent the day making discoveries, including finding a tomahawk head and many fossils. Before long our jacket pockets were full and we began to walk back to our truck through three freshly-turned cornfields.
My friend, who was walking along the edge of a steep ravine, suddenly yelled, “Run, I saw it!” I knew what “it” was. It was a panther that had been seen a number of times in the area. Now it was coming up the ravine headed right toward us.
My friend and I began running as hard as we could. About halfway through the second field both of us noticed black shapes between us and our truck. They were large, black bulls. We found ourselves facing bulls in front of us and a panther behind.
That was the day I first learned that living your life based on what you see isn’t always the best practice. I was certain we were trapped, that we were either going to be gored and trampled to death or ripped apart and eaten. But as we drew closer to the bulls, we noticed a beautiful strand of barbed wire between them and us. We jumped in the truck and raced to the farm house and safety.
Through an unusual series of circumstances, the panther ended up in a Chicago Zoo, behind bars. The bulls stayed behind the barbed wire. And we lived to hunt arrowheads and fossils another day.
God asks us to live by faith, not by sight, to trust him no matter what we see or face. Hebrews 11:1 declares: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” In 2 Corinthians 5:7 we read, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
Living this way is challenging. How can we discount what our eyes tell us is real? How can we believe in a God who is invisible?
Perhaps we could learn from a shepherd boy who faced a giant. While all the experienced soldiers in Israel’s army cowered, David, armed only with a slingshot, confronted and defeated Goliath, who was armed with a massive sword, spear and javelin. David’s brash statement reveals his focus: “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s.” David turned to his faith in an invisible God instead of fear of a daunting visible enemy.
Remember this the next time you feel trapped or overwhelmed by a challenge you face. There is an invisible God who, if you place your faith in him, will fight your battles for you and give you the victory.
Dave Smith has been senior pastor of the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church for four years. He and his wife, Cherie, have two daughters and six grandchildren. Dave Smith was an educator for 26 years before serving for 13 years as president of Union College in Lincoln, Neb.