Riding down a two-lane South Carolina country road lined with lazy trees in the stillness of night can be a little scary. Not Freddy Krueger scary but, you know, scary. There are no street lights, no traffic lights, no lights at all, except for your car’s headlights. They illuminate the road you’re traveling, helping to ease your anxiety. And your eyes are wide open.

Faith is much like that evening car ride in the country. Faith places us on roads that are seemingly dark and scary. Faith takes us on a journey, beyond mediocrity and our own understanding. Faith travels to places our physical eyes cannot reach. Faith shines a beam of light on our journey, cutting through darkness, guiding us around unexpected turns, illuminating our promise and delivering us to our destiny, safe and sound. With our eyes wide open.

The cynical don’t understand those who walk by faith. The fair-weather can’t commit to a life of faith. The self-righteous count their sight as holy. The hoodwinked refuse to grab hold of anything the swindler hasn’t told them exists. Yet faith is the Over-comer of can’t and won’t. It lives. It breathes in the smallest spaces. It rewards on stages big and small. Allow faith to be your dependable travel companion, journeying into the unknown with your eyes wide open. Be encouraged. Don’t fear. Stay alert. God has you in the palm of His hands!

“That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.

But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 The Message Bible