When looking the circumstances in your life around you, what do you see?  Do you see coincidence?  Bad luck?  Superstition? Favoritism? Do we choose faith beyond what we can see?

When What We See Looks Convincing, but We Don’t Ask God

We see this played out in Joshua 9. The stories of what the Israelites did to Jericho and Ai have made their way to other cities. Others begin to fear what the Israelites are capable of because of what they hear. They know that God commanded Moses and gave him the land.  Eventually, they will face the Israelites and lose.

While some of the men of the cities get together in one accord to fight against the Israelites, others scheme a plan to manipulate the outcome5.  It appears in the physical they were from a far off land traveling to find the Israelites in hopes of a peace treaty.  A story is made up with physical evidence that the story is legit. The Israelites take their word at face value. From what the Israelites could see in reality, their story made sense. Because it appeared in the moment that what they were saying was the truth, Joshua believed them. He makes a covenant of peace with them without ever turning to prayer.

Mistaking Visible Evidence for Faith in God’s Direction

How many times do we take what our physical eyes see as the final word?  Do we see situations around us and believe what we our eyes see as true? 

While the enemy can be scheming to find a way to stop me, what are my reactions? Do I react to what I see without looking into it? There may be a situation occurring where things are going wrong, maybe I was given a negative medical report. But in those situations do I seek God?  The enemy will send a false truth (an appearance that something is truly happening) with the hopes of gaining ground in my life through compromise.

The Cost of Not Having Faith Beyond What I Can See

Which area of my life do I believe is just the hand I was dealt without giving it much thought in prayer?  Maybe I believe the saying “when it rains, it pours.” This saying becomes a doctrine I live by. For example, believing this doctrine gives the enemy a legal foothold that when one thing happens another will follow. He will continue to make things happen, and I will not stand against it in prayer because I expect it to happen. 

Maybe I believe that every time I get extra money, something will break costing me extra money.  I may look at this situation and believe that God blessed me in advance to take care of the situation that arose costing me the extra money I was blessed with?  This is not true!  This belief gives the enemy a foothold continue to steal blessings from me.  

Believing what I physically see, feel, or walk into will cause me to get robbed from walking in the fullest of what God has in store for me. Seek God and see what He says about what I see, what I feel, and about every situation I face. Lord, help me not to partake in any situation or belief without consulting you first.

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