Live by believing, not by seeing

II Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)

For we live by believing and not by seeing.

In II Cor 5:6 Paul writes that as long as he is at home in the body, he is absent from the Lord.  In II Cor 5:8, he writes that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Living this life on earth means that the Lord is absent in the physical sense.  So in this middle verse 7 he writes that life on earth must be lived by faith (believing), not by seeing the Lord with us.

Remember when Thomas insisted on seeing Jesus in person after His resurrection or he would not believe?  When Jesus eventually appeared before Thomas and Thomas replied, “My Lord and My God” what did Jesus say?  “Because you have seen Me, have you believed?  Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (John 20:29).  Jesus basically said that faithful people are happy people. 

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1).  Does this describe your faith?  Are you convinced that Jesus exists in your life even though you have never seen Him nor ever will while on this earth?  You are a blessed, happy person if you have this kind of faith. 

The Christian lives his/her life by believing.  The word used here for “live” means to walk, to regulate your life, how you conduct yourself.  To live by believing typically has the following elements or characteristics

§ Praying throughout the day

§ Facing life’s challenges with inner strength and assurance

§ Not worrying excessively

§ Practicing the Golden Rule

§ Being led by the Holy Spirit

§ Thinking, speaking and acting to the glory of God

The sincere Christian strives to live his/her life this way.  There are continuous challenges to staying on the straight and narrow course.  Our faith is challenged every day.  Sometimes you might feel like the man who slipped off a cliff and was hanging by a limb.  He yelled for help and heard a voice saying,

“I am here, I am the Lord, do you believe in Me?” 

“Yes Lord I believe, help me”

“If you really believe, I will save you, just let go of the branch”

The man thought about this, then yelled, “Is anyone else up there?”

   

Yes, sometimes living your life by believing and not seeing every day, all day can be challenged and you will question your faith at times.  But, it’s during these times of questioning that your faith will grow even stronger. 

“God does not expect us to submit our faith to him without reason, but the very limits of our reason make faith a necessity.”  -- St. Augustine