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Don’t Judge Faith By The Journey

By Bonnie Gray • September 3, 2009 • 7 Comments

Don’t assume your faith is weak when it seems your journey has taken a wrong turn.  In fact, you may be dead center in God’s plan and pleasure: walking by faith.

I love a good hike.  If a friend tells me she knows of a really good trail, I’ll be there at the crack of dawn with a cup of coffee in hand.

I like my hikes kinda at extremes:  lush and green or dessert rock dry.  If you’re talkin’ waterfalls or dense foliage,  excellent.  Patches of rocky mountains sprinkled with shade here and there?  Breathtaking.  And if you offer up dessert hiking among the red rocks, man, that is a rush no other place can give.  Pure beauty.

But, the in-between-yellow-dried-out-grass hikes?  Um.  Thanks, but no thanks.

I’ve heard of a hike not too far from where I live that is just like this.  People have used it as training grounds to scale Half Dome at Yosemite National Park.  I was never too interested in this particular trail because the mountains it traverses are dry and yellow, with hardly any bushes, except some dead-looking trees strewn along the way.

Alas, one of my girlfriends baited me.  “C’mon.  It’s a really good workout. Tough hike, but great view.”

Really? I was suspicious.  Since I never hiked it, I thought, Oh, well, for the view.  Plus, good excuse for a scoop of chocolate mint chip ice cream later.

Well, it turned out to be a very vertical, steep climb, fighting crazy winds pushing downhill.  On the way there, I saw a dead bird and some yucky horse pucky.  A lackluster, sweat pouring hike.  And the view?  Nothing to write home about.

The faith walk is sometimes like this, too.

I’ll make a decision to trust God and really surrender.  You know, lay down something of real value.  And life doesn’t get easier.  It gets harder.

Or I’ll do the right thing, even if it meant suffering loss.  Yet, heartache and sadness became my constant companions.

There have been times in my life where it’s so dark, I couldn’t even feel my way through it.  Only silence answers in return.

The view at the top of climbing mountains of faith is sometimes anticlimactic, my friend.

That is because God does not operate in the realm of seeing, but in the realm of believing.  God works where activity is hidden and faith moves with life.

And like that hard uphill ascent, strewn with dead plants, dry and withered, we come face to face with our winters, doubts and misgivings.

It doesn’t mean we have fallen from the road of faith.

Don’t look now, but we are well on our way, walking it.  One faith step at a time.

This is the path Joseph’s life took as well, when he said no to Potipher’s wife’s treaty to amour. He landed himself a spot in jail, watching decades slip past him, his dreams apparently postponed indefinitely.

Joseph did the right thing, yet God allowed his path to descend downward, from man’s perspective.  The truth of the matter is that Joseph was dead center in God’s plan and pleasure.

In that apparent mistake of a place, God blessed him with opportunity and favor.  His dream finally came true.

Don’t assume your faith is weak when it seems your journey has taken a wrong turn.  Others might look at your circumstances and think (incorrectly) that it is due to lack of faith, prayer or action.

Don’t be shaken.  We are walking by faith.

Let us not grow weary.  The scenery might look dreary and the climb may not seem worthy.  But, it is all external.

The Amazing, God-saving truth?  We are not external, we are eternal.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Cor. 4:7

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:9


Has your walk of faith appeared anticlimactic?  What were your circumstances?

How do you deal with the times when faith seems to have put you on the wrong path?

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7 Comments

  • Reply Bridget Chumbley September 3, 2009 at 10:00 am

    Don’t look now, but we are well on our way, walking it. One faith step at a time.
    I love this Bonnie!

    When I try to pave the path myself it always ends in disaster…I need to learn to follow the path by faith…not by sight!

  • Reply makeadiff21.com September 3, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    This is a great post Bonnie. I think we all often forget that when we are on our ‘walks of faith,’ that we may be walking for a long time before we see the change we are wanting and praying for. We tend to look at things in such a short time frame… ‘well, I’m being obedient… I’m praying for guidance… why am I not seeing any change for the better?’ But it may take years for us to get to the destination God has planned for us. And even once we get there, we may not understand why He wanted us there.

    The point is, it’s not our plan, it’s His. Just as a child to his parents, we need to be obedient even if we don’t understand. Because He can see the bigger picture. There will always be things we don’t see, parts to the puzzle that are not shared with us. But somehow, it always works out.

  • Reply Drew September 4, 2009 at 6:01 am

    Nice post, I am a hiker myself and my current season def. feels like a dry patch. Thanks for the encouragement!
    Drew (dales son)

  • Reply Bonnie Gray September 4, 2009 at 9:12 am

    @Bridget: “When I try to pave the path myself..” What a great way to put it. Me, too.
    @makeadiff21: “Even once we get there, we don’t understand why..” Wow. Profound point that’s so true.
    @Drew: Welcome, Drew. Yep, those dry patches are rough. So, glad you’re here!

  • Reply Doug Spurling September 6, 2009 at 5:18 am

    Great Post.
    “That is because God does not operate in the realm of seeing, but in the realm of believing.”
    I watched a Christmas movie on Hallmark, I don’t remember the name. Anyway a little girl in it said – “Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.” I love that.

    “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
    If you don’t quit you win.

    This was a winner. Thank you.

  • Reply Bonnie Gray October 10, 2009 at 9:31 am

    @Doug: “Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.” Wonderful quote from the Hallmark movie, Doug. Thank you. It’s a keeper, esp. with this post!

  • Reply LIM TERNG FONG April 21, 2011 at 6:38 am

    hi Bonnie. I am from Malaysia. Your articles on faith is really great and encouraging. I lost my lovely wife in a freak accident where my son’s room caught fire.
    that was 2 years ago.
    Your writings encouraged me.
    Keep doing it.

    God bless yr family
    Yr kids are lovely.

    Richard Lim

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