The Christian life is filled with paradoxes. Consider the following statements from various biblical passages: “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). The list can go on. These paradoxes are a result of the war that exists between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. Indeed, when we accept Christ as our personal Lord and saviour, we become part of the kingdom of light and that puts our flesh at odds with the new way of life we now have to acquaint ourselves with. Often times I read the bible and I see truths that don’t make sense to our earthly minds but they do to our spiritual minds. I have a deeper appreciation for prophets in the Old Testament who prophesied God’s words and never saw it come to pass, yet remained steadfast until the end. This, I believe, they were able to do because they lived by “faith and not by sight”. This is the motto of the Christian, we do not live by what we see but we live by the word of God, by believing that what he has said will come to pass irrespective of what happens.
The bible calls us to live as those who have been given victory, because that is what we are: victorious in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 John 5:4). Our lives should be a display of the salvation work Christ did on the cross on our behalf. The book of Colossians is powerful and it reminds us exactly of what Christ did on the cross and its implications on our lives here on earth. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10). This verse says that we have been given fullness in Christ. In Ephesians it says that “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:22). What Christ has done for the church is huge, in all honesty, we cannot fully comprehend it in this world of ours. Knowing what Christ has done on our behalf and the victory we now have over sin and ‘every principalities and powers’ we should make every effort to live our freedom life. For God came so that we would have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Before Christ, we could not live life to the full, we could not please the Lord, our good deeds were as filthy rags, we couldn’t obey the commandments but now we can. What was impossible has become possible: freedom from addiction, freedom from any entanglements, freedom from generational curses, freedom from holding grudges, freedom from sin. We can live free because Christ made it possible by his sacrifice and he has given us the Holy Spirit who is our advocate, our counselor and our revealer.
This life of freedom entails living by the spirit and not by the flesh; it means being willing to trust when the promise tarries, it means persevering in the face of adversity, it means encouraging your heart with the “great crowd of witness” who never gave up, endured scorn and shame, flogging and chains (Hebrews 11:35) simply because they knew the God they had believed in, they lived like citizens of the kingdom of light. Although, the men and women who belonged to the great cloud of witness did not get to see what they knew to be true, they held on to it, ready to endure the unthinkable because what was not plain to the human eyes was plain to their spiritual eyes. They were able to take God at his word and run with it. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where the mantra is “seeing is believing”. In fact, our media saturated society is filled with images and videos of pretty much anything under the sun. The sad part is that seeing turns out not to be believing after all as you can see something that is not real but are led to think it is. Indeed, on our social media platforms we lie, we portray what we are not to others, we claim to be what we are not. If there is anything that social media has done well, it is revealing the human condition. Is it any wonder then that we who have given our allegiance to Christ struggle to “live by faith” when all around us screams “live by sight”? But Jesus told us from the get go to count the cost before following him, he also told us to “make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to” (Luke 12:24). The fact that Jesus says to “make every effort” suggest that it is not going to be a walk around the park, he was forewarning us to know that we would be in a constant battle with the ways of the world we live in because we were now of a different kingdom. In other words, expect difficulties, expect hardships, expect misunderstandings, expect to not be treated right, expect failure, expect fights. Regrettably, as Christians we often become surprised when things don’t go our way but as we see in the bible, this is all part of the plan. Jesus said that the world did not love him therefore we should not be surprised if the world does not love us as well. It hated him first (John 15:18).
In light of all this, know therefore that your suffering is not in vain, your questioning and incomprehensions are not in vain, your continued perseverance even when you want to give up is not in vain. Nothing that we do for the Lord is in vain. Be sure that you are not alone, you are seen by the God who sees, you are loved with an everlasting love, you are protected and as Christ has declared on the cross “it is finished”, hence your victory. It is not about what you see, nor is it about what you feel, it is all about what the Lord has said. Be encouraged and remember him who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you (Romans 8:32); remember him who is able to do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
A Word Aptly Spoken 