By Faith: Part Two - Blind

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Starting this blog "series" I had high hopes that brilliant ideas would suddenly materialize. The contrary occurred as I have sat pondering this very blog entry trying to figure out a thought worth writing. My thoughts were in a traffic jam and my fingers refused to write any way out of the jam. All this goes to say that I was feeling blinded as to anything I was hoping to learn.

But blindness isn't always so bad. Or at least referring to what I gathered about the life of one the "great's" found in Hebrews 11. The numerous moments I pored over this chapter my eyes couldn't help but linger on the life of Abraham.

Now I have heard about Abraham since a young girl (in fact some of our first pets were goldfish named Sarah and Abraham), but he was always an old man in my mind who was somehow important in Biblical history. I never really tried to imagine what it would be like to wear Abraham's shoes or rather his sandals.

Listen to this: "By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Whoa. That's the part I got stuck on. That's the part my thoughts refused to pass over. Traffic jam.

So if you know me, you know that I am a fan of control. I am a teacher, it may be part of our profession. My profession isn't an excuse, I'm just putting it out there. But I like control. And although I love surprises, I like to have a plan.

To think about picking up all my stuff literally and leaving with no idea of where I am going quite frankly scares me. To not have a plan in place and to walk by faith is hard to comprehend. But it is by faith that Abraham obeyed. He literally was "certain of what he did not see". He had a blind faith.

Abraham is someone to be commended. I feel like he and I could maybe sit over a cup of Caribou (holla for the midwest!) and chat it up about the fears and worries about picking everything up and going somewhere new. Or perhaps he didn't have those second guesses that I struggle with. Or maybe he could give me some insight on how to actually not worry about the places my feet will go in the future. Maybe he could divulge the secret of his blind faith.

The chapter goes on to say, "By faith, he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country: he lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Hmmm...another moment passed when my thoughts refused to continue. I too often feel like a stranger in this country. But surprisingly I also felt foreign in my own country. But Abraham lived by faith "being sure of what he hopes for." The little insecurities that pop up in this life are insignificant in light of what's to come. But that eternal mindset isn't often being sported in my life. I beg to know what's gonna happen in the near future forgetting that it's the eternal future that matters.

I forget that it's ok to be blind. Just like Abraham, we can trust in the One who is leading us even though the destination remains unknown.

For when we are blind, then we will see.

And when we live by faith, we begin to live.