The Illusion of the Sealed Tomb
You are standing at the edge of something you have never faced before. You have played out every worst-case scenario in your mind. You are trying to predict a future that hasn’t happened yet, giving yourself an ulcer in the process. You are looking at the hard facts—the empty bank account, the devastating medical report, the broken relationship—and your sight is telling you that the story is over. But there is a profound difference between the facts of your situation and the truth of your God. The apostle Paul gives us a lifeline in 2 Corinthians 5:7, reminding us that "we walk by faith, not by sight." But what does that actually mean when you are in the middle of a crushing crisis? It means recognizing that what you see with your physical eyes is never the full picture of what heaven is doing.
Think about the day Christ was crucified. If you were standing there at Golgotha, living only by your feelings and your sight, what would you have seen? You would have seen the violent end of a movement. You would have seen a rich man named Joseph wrap the Savior of the world in linen and roll a massive, immovable stone across the door of a tomb. Sight said it was a total defeat. Sight said the enemy had won and the promise was dead. But what was actually happening in the spiritual realm? What was the truth behind the visible tragedy?
While human eyes watched a heavy stone being rolled over a grave, heaven was violently tearing down the barrier between God and humanity. The physical realm was shaking because the spiritual realm was shifting. When we choose to walk by faith, we are deciding to trust the torn veil over the sealed tomb. We are choosing to believe that God is moving in the dark, even when our circumstances look completely dead. In that moment of panic, what you know of His character has to take over what you feel in your current crisis.
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;— Matthew 27:51, KJV
The Command to Keep Moving Forward
There is a moment in every trial when fear tries to paralyze you. The enemy wants you to sit down in your anxiety and stay there. He wants you projecting every possible scenario, analyzing every threat until you are too exhausted to take another step. But walking by faith is an active command. It requires motion. It requires putting one foot in front of the other even when your knees are shaking. When the Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to intimidate Him with the threat of Herod’s violence, Jesus did not panic. He did not retreat. He did not try to predict the future like some fortune teller; He simply declared His divine itinerary.
Jesus knew the danger was real. Living by faith does not mean we deny reality; it means we deny reality the right to dictate our obedience. Christ looked directly at the threat of death and declared that His purpose would outlast their panic. He had work to do today, tomorrow, and the day following. His assignment from the Father was not contingent on comfortable circumstances, and neither is yours.
This is what it means to walk by faith when the world around you feels hostile. You have to listen to the Holy Spirit when He says, "Stop." Stop living by your feelings. Stop letting the threat of what might happen tomorrow steal your obedience for today. You must walk today. You must continue to do what God has called you to do, trusting that He is paving the road ahead of you. The threats of the enemy cannot abort the purpose of God unless you choose to stop walking.
And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.— Luke 13:32-33, KJV
Trusting the Bread and Rejecting the Stone
One of the greatest obstacles to living by faith is a distorted view of the Father's heart. When you have been through terrible financial mistakes, when you have survived deep betrayal, when people have handed you stones instead of bread, it is incredibly easy to project that trauma onto God. You begin to brace yourself for disappointment. You pray, but you do so with a defensive posture, secretly expecting God to let you down just like everyone else did. You start living by the scars of your past rather than the promises of your future.
Jesus addresses this broken theology directly. He knows how deeply we struggle to trust. He knows that we often look at the pain in our lives and assume God is punishing us or ignoring us. But Christ redirects our gaze back to the unfailing goodness of the Father. He challenges the cynical assumptions we make when we are tired and hurting. If an earthly parent, flawed and broken, knows how to give good gifts to their children, how much more does the Creator of the universe deeply desire to provide for you?
Living by faith means you stop expecting a serpent when you ask for a fish. It means you stop bracing for impact and start resting in His provision. You don't have to figure it all out. You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You simply have to ask, seek, and knock, trusting that the One who answers the door is absolutely good. When you ask Him for the bread of life, He will not hand you the cold, hard stone of rejection.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?— Matthew 7:9-10, KJV
Tethered to the Great I AM
When we are dominated by sight, we become trapped in the tyranny of the temporary. We measure our lives by the immediate crisis. We look at the ticking clock, our advancing age, our dwindling resources, and we panic. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were trapped in this exact same earthly perspective. They looked at Jesus and only saw a man not yet fifty years old. They measured Him by human timelines and earthly constraints. They could not comprehend the eternal weight of who was standing right in front of them.
But faith anchors us to something—and Someone—far outside the boundaries of time. When Jesus responded to their mockery, He didn't just defend His age; He declared His eternal supremacy. He is the Great I AM. He is the God who was there before your crisis began, and He is the God who will be standing in victory long after your crisis has passed. When you are living by faith, you are not denying the reality of your current struggle; you are simply tethering your soul to the eternal authority of Christ.
You are believing for a better country. You are looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. The things you are facing right now—the grief, the loss, the uncertainty—are incredibly painful, but they are not permanent. The "I AM" has the final word over your life. When you truly grasp this, the chaotic noise of the world begins to fade, and the quiet confidence of heaven takes over.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.— John 8:57-58, KJV
Faith is not the absence of darkness; it is the absolute conviction that the Light of the World is walking through the dark with you. Stop letting your eyes bully your spirit. Stop letting your temporary circumstances dictate your eternal identity. The veil is torn, the Father is good, and the Great I AM is holding your tomorrow. Take a deep breath, silence the what-ifs, and take the next step. Walk by faith.