Devotional April 3 2020How do we address fear in these times through our faith? …by living out our faith in Christ.
Near the beginning of my journey as a Christ follower, there was a moment where I realized I was going to attend a church service and not have anyone to go with. Early on in my faith I had been a part of a terrific small group and started developing many friends. I had always had someone to join during the service and never felt out of place until this day. I remember praying the night before and as the thought came to my mind about going to church alone, I felt the Lord speak to me. After the encounter I resolved to go without reluctance.
In the fourth Gospel we see a situation where God is at work. The Apostle John tells us of a man born blind receiving physical and spiritual sight as a result of faith in Christ.
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:1-7
In that time it was normal for those who could not earn a living to beg. Those that begged were placed at the entrance of the temple in Jerusalem in order to benefit from the generosity of those going to worship to God. The man born blind in John 9 was told by Jesus to go and wash out the mud. The pool of Siloam was half a mile away, and it required that he get up and leave his spot and possibly any chance to receive some sort of benefit from begging. All with the possibility of not knowing if it was going to work.
There are going to be occasions where God is going to want us to trust Him. When that opportunity arises are we going to be willing to take that step? How many of us have just remained in the norm, and not considered all that God wants to accomplish in us and through us. It would be like if the blind man simply wiped off the mud from his face and continued to sit where he was and beg.
When the uncertainty of these times makes us feel like we are walking in the dark, living out our faith is another way we can address fear through faith. As we trust in Jesus for everything in these times, let us remember that as we grow in our knowledge of Him the easier it will be to live out our faith.