Do We Walk by Faith or by Sight?

     I would imagine most Christians are familiar with the Bible verse “For we walk by faith not by sight!”  (2 Corinthians 5:7) This section of Scripture speaks of the battle raging between our inward and outward man.  It speaks of the contrast between temporary things we “see” and eternal things we cannot see. It speaks of our desire to be with the Lord, clothed in our heavenly attire, yet confident no matter where we are, we are pleasing to Him because we walk by faith and not by sight!  In order to walk in this faith we must know what exists in the heavenly realm, then believe and trust God for it, eventually seeing it established in the natural realm. 

     This “knowing” comes by faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb.11:1)  When a person knows something by faith, the power to demonstrate God’s will flows through them because a demand is placed upon what is unseen. 

“I Just Know That I Know”

     When people do not have a logical explanation for knowing something they might say “I just know that I know”.  In the past, I did not like that expression because I wanted a concrete answer.  But when I studied and meditated on the Word of God I came to know and believe God even though I did not understand how or why I “knew”.  Now I have confidence in Who He is and what He does, not in what I can see or understand and I like the expression finding at times there is no better way to explain why we believe what we believe than “I just know that I know”.   I call this the “knower” inside of us. It is our spirit reaching out to the Spirit of God, and when they meet there is a “knowing” because His Spirit speaks to our spirit.  However, we can only “know” if we are willing to invest in something or someone.  It does not “just happen”. This “knowing” comes by faith, faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)

We will “do” what we “know”

      It is what and it is who we “know” that determines where and how far we will go.  It is what we know about God, about His character, His will and His ways, which enables us to go further in Him.  In other words, the measure of our doing and going is determined by the measure of our knowing.  The more we know God intimately the more we will determine to love, serve, obey, sacrifice, and go all out for Him.  There is no end to knowing God.  We will spend eternity knowing Him.  That excites me beyond what words can express.  Our ability and availability to “go and do” will always grow if we seek to know Him more every day. 

       The truth is we cannot do what we do not know.  Notice I did not say we cannot do what we do not understand.  There are things about God and His will we do not presently understand, but that does not stop us from knowing truth and doing what we know to be truth because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6)

• I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three persons in one God. (Matthew 28:19) I cannot comprehend this logically but I still know it is Truth. 
• I know if I have the faith of a mustard seed I can say to this mountain, Move, and it must move. (Matthew 17:20) I cannot understand how it works, but I know it to be true.
• I know if I train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) I cannot understand this, especially if I see them going astray, but I know it is truth.

How do we know these are true?  Because God said it and His Word cannot fail, has no errors, and is inspired.  The Spirit of the Living God resides in those who believe and He helps, comforts, and teaches us.  How can we be confident in these truths?  We give testimony of what He has done in our lives; He saves, heals, prospers, calls, and loves us.  He fellowships and speaks with us, does signs and wonders through us, and so much more.  We “know” because He reveals Himself to us. 

Activate truth in our lives and roam freely

      When we know that we know, our faith locks onto a truth which then activates that truth to establish God’s will on the earth.  In other words, when we know something is a reality in the Kingdom of God, we activate this certainty with the substance of faith from God‘s realm, the heavenly realm.  Colossians 3:1-2 says “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Setting our minds on things established in the Kingdom of God activates our kingdom mentality letting us roam freely outside our limited earthly perspective.

     We only remain bound by earthly limitations when we create the substance of our faith from this realm of sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. Operating from this realm frustrates us when we do not see the results we expect to see if faith is released but we must understand it is because we are releasing faith for things we already have evidence for. 

     Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things we cannot see. We must release our faith in the realm of the supernatural, in Christ Jesus.  In this realm we will see His will done on earth as it is in heaven and we will believe for things which seem impossible.  We will exercise mountain moving, water walking faith, and will do even greater things because it is Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27) doing great things through His people.