Walk by Faith

“We as Christians and we as a broader culture are having trouble making choices. One of the best ways I think of what commitment always means is making a choice to give up other choices. It always means that. It’s a problem for Christians because we’re affected by our culture of choice and the idea that we should keep hanging on to all of our options in life. The real spiritual path, however, is not going to be making sure that we hold on to every option. It’s going to be being wise and being willing to give up options for the deeper, truer path God wants us to be on…We are lots of times waiting for the burning bush, but if one is waiting for the burning bush, it’s not real consistent with something else Paul said that was pretty important. He said ‘we walk by faith and not by sight.’ So if we’re supposed to walk by faith and not by sight and that’s what it means to really be a deeply committed Christian, that means He’s usually not giving us a burning bush. If He is, there’s not faith in that. Faith comes from having a pretty good sense of what God cares about and doing our best with the choices and then struggling with what that means.” -Scott Stanley

(Ed. note: My emphasis added)

If you really stop and think about it, we’re all confronted with hundreds of decisions a day. We decide what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, whether we will order a grande or a venti at Starbucks, where we will fill up our gas tanks, who we will call or email, what we will do with our limited free time after work, where we will go on vacation….and the list goes on.

God blessed us with a culture of choice. However, each time we choose A, we don’t choose B or C, meaning that we have effectively limited our options. If we spend our time wondering how things could have been if we made a different choice, we have the potential to waste our lives and never truly grow in our present situations.

Decisions scare me, especially the big ones like where to work or live. I’m overwhelmed by my choices, and most of the time, I’d absolutely love for God to direct me with a burning bush. Fortunately for me, He doesn’t always give me what I want. Sometimes He allows me to make choices, trusting me to use the guidance of the Word and the Holy Spirit as I move forward on the path.

Walking by faith is not easy. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and risk is definitely involved. Despite all of that, I’m grateful that God loves me enough to entrust me with the responsibility of choice.