A Vision of Faith: Walking on Air

I don’t often share my personal revelations that occur in my prayer times, much less the occasional vision that comes. But this one seems like it has a broader message than just my own little life. The pastor at my church is speaking on faith this month and so my focus lately in devotions is on Hebrews.

The first revelation that God downloaded to me this month is that faith is not merely believing that He will do what He has promised to do. Faith isn’t just the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I say ‘just’ with a grain of salt. After all, the substance of things hoped for is the basis of all Christian hope. We don’t see Heaven but we intend to make it there eventually. We don’t see Jesus now, but we can’t wait to see Him face to face.

But in the context of my devotions, He pointed out that having faith consists of being faithful. We often think of having faith as a giant act of will or we try to rev up a feeling of faith in prayer. But we are called to be full of faith, or might I say, faithful. But being faithful means that we just show up. Every day. Without fail. We pray. We love. We obey. Those are the things that make up our faith. Following Jesus in our everyday lives is our greatest act of faith.

But the vision He gave me was unexpected and really spoke to me as a writer and as a sojourner on this earth.

in my vision, I saw myself standing with Jesus at the edge of a cliff.  I was a bit nervous. I have vertigo which means that when I am up high, I have a desire to jump off. I am not in the least suicidal. Apparently, many people suffer from this. Some think they are going to fall no matter what they do. Others feel a pull towards the edge as if gravity was reaching its hand over to yank them off. That is kind of what I feel as if jumping off is the inevitable conclusion to being at a great height.

Not that I would ever do that. I, fortunately, am able to restrain the urge.

The cliff itself collapsed underneath our feet. It gave way and then I was standing on the air, holding Jesus’ hand. I panicked a little and fell to my knees. I expected to fall all the way down. But my hands and knees felt a solid surface that I couldn’t see. I could not discern a difference between the air and the dirt. Both felt the same under me. The vision disconcerted me. I wasn’t expecting this development.

He urged me to keep walking. Underneath me, a canyon of at least a thousand feet yawned. I was afraid, but I had Jesus with me so I kept walking. I couldn’t help but think of the glass bridge in China that people crawl across for amusement. As much as I have laughed at the sight of them inching their way across, I know that I would have to be tied up and dragged bodily across.

To my surprise, the terrain I walked over was rocky, even though it was invisible. I had this idea that walking across the air would be smooth sailing. I kept tripping and at one point, stubbed my toe. But I had the feeling of utter confidence that I was on solid ground.

I quickly gained some confidence. I could even see the invisible terrain a little bit here and there in a pale outline. I let go of Jesus’ hand and while I could still make it over the rocky ground, I fell a lot more and skinned my hands and knees. I found that if I held His hand, then He would either tell me to avoid a particular area or help me over some difficult area. I absolutely needed His direction. After all, if I am walking on unseen ground, how can I tell where I am going?

I asked Him what He was showing me. And it was a whole vision my faith walk.

As Christians, we do walk an unseen terrain. He told me that the things we think are solid, such as money, our own strength, our jobs, even our relationships, are as insubstantial as the cliff. Any of them can give way at any moment. Having watched as many of the support structures in my own life have fallen by the wayside, I recognize that He alone sustains me.

His purpose for our lives, the destiny He has ordained for us, though we cannot see it, is far more steady, far more secure than all the things we so readily place our trust in. Like the invisible land I was crossing, it is very real. What’s more, though I stumbled here and there, I couldn’t fall off. In the natural, I would have taken a very painful dive to the bottom of the canyon. But I can’t fall off of my destiny in Him. I’m on solid ground.

I do not know where my life will take me. I can’t see it, though sometimes I catch glimpses of the good works that God has especially created for me to perform with Him as my partner. Writing in itself is an act of faith because I don’t know if anyone will read this. I don’t know if the book I have labored over will find a publisher and then find its way into the hands of the middle grades reader I imagine reading it. All I know is that my job today is to be faithful and get over the little bit of ground directly in front of me. 

And I know that because I walk by faith, and not by sight, I had better keep hold of Jesus’ hand.  My vision is limited! After all, while I know that my eventual destination is heaven, I’m pretty sure He is the one who knows the way.

No one writes about faith better than Bill Johnson. If you haven’t heard him preach, go to Youtube and prepare to get your mind blown. His books are really good too. As an Amazon affiliate, I make a small commission off purchases you make at no cost to you.

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