Living by Faith

"We live by faith, not by sight."
2 Corinthians 5:7

This is a scripture that I am sure most of us have heard for our entire lives. It is quoted often, possibly because it is short and easy to remember. But the truth of this little verse is so immense that few of us have really understood it, let alone lived it out. What exactly, does it mean to live by faith and not by sight?
    I have learned, over the course of my Christian life, that there is a vast difference between the way I am called to live in Christ, and the way I have been taught to live by the world. It comes down to the same thing we have talked about before: Do we live by the Spirit, or by the flesh. Everything that is spiritual is received by faith. When we gave our lives to Jesus, we believed it happened, even though we may not have seen any exterior evidence. The night I received Jesus, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind what had happened. I felt it in my spirit. I had passed from death into life. I accepted it by faith. Jesus did not appear to me in person. I simply believed and confessed that belief. Faith works the same way in our everyday lives. We believe God is working in our lives and we act on that. When we do, we exercise our faith. The Christian life is continually full of these faith acts.
    We do not live by sight. I believe the reason God is so clear about this is because of this: If we live our lives based on the things we see, we will be discouraged. We will lose heart because of the sin in the world, our own failings, the difficulties we face and the uncertainty of the future. Right now, if we put our trust in the financial strength of the world, our country, or our own bank accounts, we would be depressed about the future. But our strength is not found in money or any other thing in this world. Our strength comes from God and we must accept that strength by faith in him.
    When we have this kind of faith, the future is bright. Hope wells up in our souls. Where God is involved, the future is absolutely secure. This is true because God never changes. We don't have to try to find him, he is always right there, waiting for his children. So let's exercise our faith. let's live by faith instead of being depressed about the things we see with our physical eyes and hear with our physical ears. Live by faith and experience the joy, peace, and hope that is found in Jesus Christ.