The life of faith calls us into many frontiers. And things are not always predictable, nor do they always make sense from a human perspective. But living by faith means we follow the Spirit wherever he leads, and we’re not trying to arrange and bring about his promises in our own way.
God promised to make Abram into a great nation with countless descendants of his very own. But when Sarai was unable to get pregnant they reasoned that perhaps it was through Sarai’s servant, Hagar, that God would fulfill his promises to Abram.
This was decidedly not an act of faith, but rather an attempt to arrange the good God promised to them through their own understanding.
And we’re often guilty of the same.
We know God has more in store for us than the life we’re currently living. But instead of waiting on God’s timing and the doors he opens, we often try to rush ahead and arrange things on our own.
For instance, we might try to force a job, a move, or a relationship to work because it seems to us like the logical path to get to where God is calling us. While we might have good intentions, we’re not living by faith when this is motivated by our own anxieties, fears, and assumptions rather than being sensitive to the Spirit’s movement in our life.
And like Abram, we often invite much unnecessary suffering into our life when we try to arrange God’s promises on our terms rather than living by faith and trusting his ways.
In the end, we must constantly consider if we’re merely depending on our own understanding, or if we’re truly listening to and following the Spirit of God wherever he leads.
God has good in store for you. But live by faith – following his Spirit and not merely trying to arrange his good on your terms.
