Blind Faith part 2
Faith is not blind. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for and the EVIDENCE of things not seen. Faith is not hoping God will do something. Faith is knowing He will because He has said He would... and because He has done it before. We have faith in God because He has proven Himself faithful. Basically is what I'm trying to say. So let's really think about this. They say love is blind. Because when you first "fall in love" with someone you can't see any of their faults. There may be red flags all over the place, but you don't see them. Or you don't think they're really that important. The idea that you can change somebody. Which, by the way, you can't. But it's that idea we have. "They're perfect." Because we can't, or won't, see certain things. Here's the deal though: That's not love. That's probably lust more than anything else. You "don't see," or ignore, those things you should see because you want what you want. You WANT them to be what you want them to be. And that's why so many relationships go sour so quickly. People are who they are, not who you wish they were. Putting expectations on people--putting expectations on anything, really--is the best way to get disappointed. Nothing ever lives up to our unrealistic expectations. We set ourselves up for a fall. But here's the thing about love: Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love sees things clearly. Love isn't blind. It is longsuffering. Love lets people be who they are, and loves them anyway. And that's not to say you have to be ok with everything and everybody. There are some things in this world that are unacceptable to me. By which I mean I do not accept them. You can turn the other cheek and not retaliate but still have healthy boundaries. You don't have to let people walk all over you. Or use you and abuse you. You can love people from a distance, if I can say it that way. Not everybody is for you, and you're not for everybody. And that's ok. But the point I'm trying to get to here in my usual roundabout way is that just as there is no such thing as blind faith... love is not blind either. We need to change our idea about blindness. Jesus came to blind those who thought they could see--who thought they knew it all--and to open the eyes of those who were blind. To show us how things really are. "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." But we need to SEE Him. To hear Him. To handle Him with our hands. Remember so called "doubting" Thomas? Who put his hands into the wounds in Jesus's hands? Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God. Love isn't blind. Love sees clearly. God isn't blind to any aspect of us. He sees us as we are... and He sees us as we TRULY are. He sees us in our strength, in our weakness, and everywhere in between. And He loves us every step of the way. In fact, He loves us even more IN our weakness. Because that's when we need it more. He always gives us what we need. He always gives us what we need... exactly when we need it. Never early or late, but right on time. Our God is a NOW God. He's right on time. He's not blind to who we are or what we need. He sees us clearly, and has already provided all our need. It's available to us. We have it. Now WE need to make sure WE'RE not blind to it!