I don't like the term "blind faith". Faith is not blind. On the contrary, we’re told that faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)  Faith doesn’t blind us – it enlightens us! By faith our spiritual eyes are opened and we see so much more than our natural eyes will ever perceive.
Paul writes that what the natural eye cannot see and the natural ear can’t hear – we do perceive through the Spirit of God.
       “9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. …” 1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

I remember my first sensation after praying and giving my life to Jesus Christ. I literally thought the universe had just gone through some kind of phase-shift and someone had turned up the intensity of light and color. I soon realized the change wasn’t an external one, it was inside the very core of my being. I was experiencing what the Bible calls ‘illumination’. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and gives life to our spirit. We become a new creation in Christ and that new, spiritual creation comes with a new set of eyes and ears. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

It’s like getting satellite radio. The signals have been there, but until you get the right equipment, you have no way of hearing them. Others may tell you about them, but you won’t be able to hear for yourself until you get your hands on an XM Satellite Radio. Once you do, a whole new world of sound opens up.

Faith in Jesus is like that. All of a sudden we’re introduced to a whole new world – a whole new universe. It can be both thrilling and disconcerting at the same time. Thrilling because we’ve ‘discovered’ a new country. Disconcerting because the Kingdom of God doesn’t always play by our rules. The ‘physics’ of Heaven are not earthly. If you want to be great, become a servant. If you want to live, die. If you want to be first, be last. They’re not our rules, but they work – in the Kingdom.

And that’s where walking by faith instead of sight comes in. When I try to live the Christian life by earthly principles – sight – it just doesn’t work. But when I seek to walk by faith, it works. And since faith essentially means trust, it all comes back to simply trusting Jesus even when my natural senses are saying ‘I don’t understand what’s going on’. Sometimes it’s my ‘how does this work?’ questions that get in the way of simply enjoying the fact that it does work.

Faith is not blind. It allows us to see things that cannot be experienced any other way. Trust Jesus. And when you hear His call, “Step out of your boat and join Me!”, set your eyes on Him and get ready for something radically new.  “Hey, look at me. I’m walking by faith!”

“Lord, I’m thrilled to think of the ‘undiscovered country’ You’ve shown me as I’ve followed You. But I’m also sobered by my entrenched hesitancy. Forgive the tentativeness of my faith – and my natural bent toward walking by sight. Thank You for Your Merciful Patience and Your Encouraging Persistence. Amen.”

“Samuel ministered to the Lord…”   “…Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.”  1 Samuel 3:1a, 7a)
As in the days of Samuel, so it is today.  People outside the church are rebellious, apathetic, and self-absorbed; while people inside the church are rebellious, apathetic, and self-absorbed.  Hmmm…I see a pattern here.  The climate of the church back in Samuel’s day was cloudy with a chance of judgement- 100% chance.  The climate hasn’t warmed much.  

We were hippies; so carob, touted as a chocolate substitute was a given, as was bread filled with more seeds than your average bird feeder, and alfalfa sprout sandwiches. It was the era of recipe rebellion- the success of a food was based on how many ingredients could be replaced with a more natural a.k.a. "worse tasting, therefore healthier" version. Enter, carob. So in a fit of inspiration, I made no-cook Chocolate Coconut Drops. A sure success because John loves coconut and I love chocolate. But In keeping with the times, I made Carob Shredded-Carrot Drops instead. The chalky blobs sat untouched in the refrigerator because even mold refused to grow on them. I deemed the original recipe and its replacement, a total failure.  

I've observed a similar habit in regard to the recipe for Truth, and I've been as guilty as anyone. It goes like this: Read the Bible, substitute personal opinion for obedience, and "relevancy" for timeless principles. Then, when everything in my personal lives becomes a dried clot of mixed philosophies, I say, "I tried this recipe and it didn't work."  

What if, instead, we cleaned our cupboards of all the truth wannabes and FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS exactly as Jesus intended. 
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Carob, Ha! Like anything COULD EVER replace chocolate.

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”” John 14:21, NIV

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Laura Cowan