What is a Walk of Faith anyway? Some people see it as the path God has had us on from the time we were born until now. Others see it as the cat and mouse game we paly with God; God chasing after our own heart . . . us coming to Him with a humble heart but then having an attack of self-centeredness and running and hiding from Him. I think our Walk of Faith is both of these things and many more. A mental image I like is that my Walk of Faith is all of the above . . . the path God has had me on since birth while Iam busy playing cat and mouse with Him. These things combine to make me who I am today and what my relationship with God is.
In the 90’s Kris and I attended the Crystal Cathedral. Regardless of what you think or believe about the Dr. Schuller or the Cathedral . . . it was a REAL church. Oh they had a huge television presence but also had ministries that were highly effective in the community as well as worldwide. We were involved in one such ministry: Family Life Class. This was basically a couples Sunday school class with it’s own pastor and weekly attendance was between 80 and 90 people.
As a part of our class and worship time, we instituted a time we called “Walk of Faith”. This was a time when other classmates would get up in front of the class and tell a short (sometimes not so short) version of their wrestling match with God through their life. It would include significant life events such as abuse, divorce, exceptional encouragement by a parent and how God walked with them through these good and not-so-good of times and how He used it to form them precisely into the person they are today.
These were very meaningful and important times . . . for both, the class and the person sharing. We discovered that many times this was the only time these people had shared these parts of their lives. I think it said a lot about who we were as a group that these people fest safe enough to share this kind of stuff with us. In fact, listening to and supporting our friends as they shared was also a significant part of each of our individual Walks of Faith as we grew in understanding better who God is and how He works!
So what is our Walk of Faith? I think it is safe to say that it is the path that we are on with God through our life. It doesn’t matter that a part of the walk has not necessarily been with us knowing He was there with us on the path all the time. I think that it is through these times by our reliance on God (or not) which defines how we will react or be shaped by certain events. Like it or not; we are all on our Walk of Faith right now . . . embrace it and learn from it . . . and hear what God is telling you!
I intend for this blog to be something of a sharing of my walk of faith. Not that mine is particularly spectacular or interesting, but, we all learn from others. I have learned a lot from my walk and my theory is that if we can avoid just one of life’s difficult and costly lessons . . . it’s well worth it!
I invite you to share and comment on your own walks!
Thank you for reading,
Pat
Our Walk of Faith 