Your Best Life...Later

What does it mean to "live by faith and not by sight"? It is a concept that I'm sure many of us have heard, but have never really taken the time to think about what exactly it means. So before you continue, just take a moment to think about this yourself.

Living by faith is exactly what it sounds like: living a life where you completely trust in the Lord to provide you with everything you will ever need. You have faith that God will not let you go hungry, that he will not let you go naked, or be left alone when sick. It is knowing that you do not need a safety net in your life to catch you when things go bad, but you know that God is spotting you, ready to catch you if only you believe that He will. It is a belief of the heart, not of the mind. It is one thing to say that God will provide for you, and another thing entirely to actually step back and say, "Ok, God, take it away."

The Bible reiterates again and again and again the importance of having faith, of believing that God is who He says He is. At the core, faith is what saves us from an eternity separated from God. Faith is the only thing we can do on this earth that could be credited to us as righteousness. Faith is what gives us a good reputation here on earth, for a reputation of being anything but a man seeking after God earnestly is selfish and sinful. Faith is knowing that what God promises to us will happen, whether or not we can actually see its fruits.

So how do we live by faith? One way is simply by giving freely, giving more than what you think you can afford to give, knowing that God will provide for you in your generosity. But it does not need to be just giving financially, giving time is a very big way to give to the Lord, especially during college when you really, literally, do not have money to give away. If you can afford to give up some of your time to others, then you will be blessed. For one thing, giving your time is a great way to show God's love in you, because the recipient of your given time will be able to tangibly SEE the love of God working in you, and you will be able to pour forth God's love onto them during the process. You could join a service-based organization on campus, and be able to be a light to both the people you are serving and those whom are serving with you! Or you could spend time tutoring; it is a great way to really get close to somebody and show them that you care for them. You are showing them that you love them enough to take time to help them study, when you yourself could be studying, but you can also make it a time of discipleship. And discipleship in general is a HUGE way to give time for the Lord. It takes time to plan a time weekly to meet with people and encourage them in their faith. It takes time for you to search the Scriptures and find what you want to talk to them about each week. And it takes time to actually sit down and talk and get to know them, and to get them to open up and share about themselves. These meetings may very well last longer than you would have planned, and in being a mentor, this is something that you must know and plan for ahead of time, because you should never leave someone when they are finally becoming vulnerable and opening up; you don't know if they will ever get to that point again.

But in all these, giving time, giving money, you are trusting that God is going to provide for you. You are trusting that God will give you the money you need for gas and for food, and for rent and tuition. You are trusting that the time spent serving others will be fruitful, and that God will help you study in the time you have left. You need to trust that God has a plan for your life, and if He begins to show you where He is taking you, you need to trust that His plan is better than anything you could ever do on your own. You need to stop living this life as if it is something that can be done alone, and you need to surrender all control to God and let him take care of everything.