Watching my daughter, Maya, learn how to walk has taught me a lot about walking by faith. For Maya, it began with crawling, pulling up on couches, and cruising along furniture. In the early stages, if I tried to initiate walking with my hand she would squat down and simply not be interested. But over time, a shift occurred and Maya began to initiate the walk, holding my hand, letting go for a few steps, and reaching back out to stabilize herself when she felt like she was going to fall.
Eventually, over time her progress accelerated and she was doing laps around our living room. I noticed that Maya would take more steps going towards something than simply walking for the sake of walking. When she saw Jen, her posture would change—arms go up, fear vanishes, and suddenly she was walking like nothing could stop her.
When Maya would take her first steps she would stare downward, fixated on her feet. There were moments where she would look around without focus and stumble. Real progress happened when her gaze shifted from her feet to the person waiting for them with open arms.
The Christian walk requires the exact same shift in perspective. The scripture says:
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:2
When we are able to quiet the noise around us, rid ourselves of distractions and focus on Jesus, we can go further than we’ve ever gone with the confidence that comes from knowing that the Lord is with us.
Maya needed to feel a certain level of safety and security before she could take off into the sunset. She needed a certain level of trust in her parents to know that she was safe enough to explore the world around her. She needed some handholding; she needed to fall and get back up on her own; she needed to be encouraged even in the small steps she made; and she needed the space and place to do so. Walking by faith also requires a certain level of safety and security that is built by trusting our heavenly Father.
Walking by faith requires more than sight. It requires us to hold onto the promises that God has for us and that includes that He is with us.
A great example of the difference between living by sight and living by faith is clearly illustrated in Numbers 13–14. Twelve leaders were sent by Moses to explore the Promised Land of Canaan. Notice God’s original assignment in Numbers 13:2: “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” God did not dispatch the spies to deliberate whether the land could be taken; He sent them to explore what He had already given them. All twelve spies saw the exact same terrain, fruit, and inhabitants. Yet ten returned convinced of defeat, while two returned confident in victory.
For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7
What you see does not always reflect what is true. The ten spies looked at the obstacle and left God out of their calculations. Joshua and Caleb looked at the promise and recognized that human opposition is meaningless when God is present.
If I’ve learned anything from Maya, I’ve learned that I can walk further in faith than I’ll ever know if I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.
If I’ve learned anything from the 2/10 leaders of the Israelites, I’ve learned when our eyes are fixed on Jesus, nothing else matters.
My prayer is that we would continue to increase our faith by walking by faith in what God is calling us to do. May we be a people who fix our eyes on Jesus in the midst of life’s challenges. May we be transformed by the renewing of our mind with every step we take towards Jesus. Let us remember who God is and what He can do when we seek Him first. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!