So what does it mean to live by faith? And how does living by faith relate to one's level of passivity in life? In other words, does living by faith mean that I stop spending so much time trying to plan for life and "take life into my own hands"?
This is a dilemma for me because I usually associate a greater level of passivity with irresponsibility. Therefore, I usually try to have a plan, to foresee as many possibilities as possible and have a plan of action for as many of those possibilities as possible. This feels like taking responsibility and being proactive. However, when I don't have a clear picture of the possibilities, or when I see the possibilities but can't figure out a plan, I get stressed. Lately, my stress level has been greater than ever.
So this brings me back to my question: what does it really look like to live by faith? Does it mean that we take things one day at a time and really give no thought for tomorrow (Matt. 6:34)? I'll be writing a more extensive post on this in the future, and I'd like to get some feedback before posting. Your thoughts ...
1 comment:
For me Job described very well what living by faith is. In Job 1:21, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
Planning is right and responsible. If it were not so, would Jesus have congratulated the man who realized a high return on his "talent" investment? It took planning and strategy for the man to make wise investments with the talent his master gave him.
Having said that, we also need a great deal of flexibility. Agility to adapt to change. Life for a follower of Christ is about change, evolution, transformation into the image of God. This means I won't look the same tomorrow as I did today. God changes our situation so we can grow. Often by challenging us to greater personal surrender to him.
Equally so, the plans we make exist in a broken world. Our well thought out plans get bulldozed by the mountain of crap that happens all around us.
So for me, walking by faith means making thoughtful plans that strive to coincide with the will of God. But "coinciding with God's will" means surrendering enough to stop fighting his current by yielding to the current, letting it pull you in the direction he has planned for you since before the creation of the world.
In the end, to hell with your plans. God's plan is better.
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