Walking by Faith

 Conversation opened. 1 read message.

I had an interesting experience this week, as are true of most of my weeks.

In Bible study last night, we were shown a video about the insidious influence of Artificial intelligence.  (Or “AI” if you’re cluey). It was both interesting and frightening to learn how computers might just be taking over our thinking.

Based on that, I decided to read my Bible from the actual BIBLE this morning instead of my phone……….I occasionally checked my phone as I read, and it seemed to be hanging in there with the Word correctly, so maybe my Bible program hasn’t been taken over…..yet.

But something unexpected happened.  Reading my physical Bible gave me access to years and years of ‘notes’ I’d written in the margins.  

And what should I happen across this morning was a little note, with a name, and the verse, 2 Corinthians 5:7.  Most of you will know it without even looking it up.  It says,

 “We walk by faith, not by sight”.

I was able to flash back (because of the note) to 1989.  Wow

The combined churches of Sendai, where we lived, had asked me to pontificate over their meeting with a nice talk about how much I loved being a missionary.

“No problem,” I thought.  I did love being a missionary, but somehow I picked this verse, planning to say how faith was there to smooth things over or something like that.

I had no idea of the true impact of the verse, until Sunday came.

We were at the little church that we were dutifully planting in one of the suburbs.  True, it was a hard slog, but things were coming along.  I’ll talk more about that “Spiritual training ground” we were experiencing in some later blogs.

But this particular Sunday went OK and we were driving a young girl home.  She was a new Christian, learning her way, and we knew she had “issues” with her father, but generally all was well.

Until I opened my mouth.  What better thing to bring up, after a good morning service, than the problem she was having with her Dad?

She started screaming at me from the back seat and didn’t stop till we got to her house.  At some point I turned off my Japanese brain and let her continue to rave. Obviously, I’d touched a very raw nerve.  

I sorta wobbled into the room to give my talk.  I got up to the podium, looked out at the audience, took all their smiling faces in, and then looked down at my text.

「私たちは見えるものによってではなく、信仰によって歩んでいるからです。」

Yep, you’re right it says the same thing in English.  We walk by FAITH, not by SIGHT!

Without any warning either to myself or them, I started BAWLING and couldn’t stop. 

One thing you should never do is cry in front of Japanese.  They have no way of understanding such weakness, or know of any way to act accordingly.  After just a few seconds, our best friend Shinkichi, with such a kind heart, quietly approached me and led me away.

Everyone, I’m sure, thought I was about to leave Japan, never being a missionary again. What else could explain such an undisciplined outburst.  “Seppuku”? (Honourable suicide) 

But they stood by me, wide eyed but never asking questions, just a kind word or a flower from their garden. Gently, they ‘nursed’ me back to what they considered sanity.  I don’t think anyone ever knew what had set me off.

But I knew.  And in marking that verse, I came to know the true meaning of it.  We cannot PLAN or ORGANIZE just everything that happens to us.  We can imagine perfect endings, but sometimes we just get blindsided.

This girl died several years later of cancer.  She was a faithful Christian, but never to anyone’s knowledge, reconciled to her father.  Maybe in heaven, as her conversion led eventually to his.

I think I’m going to like ‘remembering’ the little notes in the sidebars of my Bible.  It reminds me both what has happened thru the years and what God has been faithful to point out along the way.

Till next week, Marsha