Every time Emerald and I walk downstairs at my house, we encounter a Scripture verse on the wall: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Every time, we stop on step #5, point to each word in the verse, and together try to repeat them.

It goes like this: I start by saying, “For we…” and Emerald chimes in with a loud, “WALK!” and I continue, “by faith, not by…” and she hollers, “SIGHT!” Then we share a laugh and continue down the steps.

But walking by faith rather than by sight is no laughing matter. It’s difficult even for a seasoned Christian – not difficult to understand, but exceedingly difficult to do.

Many of us struggle intensely with the not-seeing part, especially those of us who are visual learners. For us, seeing is believing. But God’s instruction is just the opposite: the believing must precede the seeing.

The other day while driving, I listened to an archived interview by a preacher named Vance Havner. He said, “When people say ‘God is nowhere,’ Christians should split that word in two and say, ‘God is now-here.’ ”

He went on to list the common complaints of people he had encountered, people who wondered why God didn’t show up when they fell on hard times or had relational problems or suffered from diseases. He explained how he used to say, “Yes, times are tough, but look Who’s here!”

His point was that our response to suffering shouldn’t be grounded in logic. A Christian’s willingness to live by faith has to be based on Who’s doing the talking rather than on what’s being said. For example, take Emerald’s and my stairwell verse. No one would choose a wait-and-see reality over seeing-it-now, but that’s what God wants us to do, for a good reason.

If we live a life of believing before seeing, our faith in him will benefit from a continual growth spurt. Living by faith rather than sight is the quickest way to gain faith-weight. He challenges us to set aside the logical laws of cause and effect that scream, “God’s not going to come through for you!” and develop instead a willingness to wait for a sight of him. When we finally gasp and say, “Oh! That was him putting those pieces together like that!” our faith gains new muscle.

It isn’t easy, but it’s oh so worth it. And though Emerald thinks our stairway recitation is just a happy game, one day I hope she’ll understand that rich rewards will come to her if she’ll just try to live by the 8 words on our stairwell wall.

“Faith is…. the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Mary: “I’m praising the Lord for a wonderful visit from my old prayer group this morning, and also for safe travel for family members returning from Arkansas today.”