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Living by Faith When We Cannot See Tomorrow

Trusting Jesus Through Sunshine, Shadow, and Rain

One of the first lines of the beloved hymn “Living by Faith” says:

“I care not today what the morrow may bring,
If shadow or sunshine or rain.”

That does not mean the writer was unconcerned about life or indifferent to suffering. It means he had decided not to allow tomorrow’s uncertainty to control today’s peace.

None of us knows what tomorrow will bring.

Tomorrow may bring an answered prayer, an unexpected blessing, or an encouraging conversation. It may also bring disappointment, illness, financial difficulty, loneliness, or news we never expected to receive.

Faith does not tell us which kind of day is coming.

Faith tells us that Jesus will already be there.

What Does It Mean to Live by Faith?

Paul wrote:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
—2 Corinthians 5:7

Walking by sight means that our confidence depends upon what we can presently see, understand, predict, or control.

Walking by faith means that our confidence rests in the character of God even when we cannot understand what He is doing.

Living by faith does not mean closing our eyes to reality. It means looking beyond our circumstances to the One who remains faithful within them.

Faith says:

“I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that my Heavenly Father will not abandon me.”

“I do not understand everything happening in my life, but I believe God understands it completely.”

“I cannot see the entire road ahead, but I will take the next step He has placed before me.”

Faith is not confidence that everything will happen according to our plans. It is confidence that God remains trustworthy when our plans do not happen.

Faith Begins With the Character of God

The hymn’s chorus begins:

“Living by faith in Jesus above,
Trusting, confiding in His great love.”

Those words show us where biblical faith is placed.

Faith is not confidence in our own ability to remain strong. It is not positive thinking or an attempt to convince ourselves that nothing painful will happen.

Biblical faith has an object: Jesus Christ.

We trust Him because He has demonstrated His love for us at the cross. We confide in Him because He has invited us to bring our burdens to Him. We follow Him because He sees what we cannot see.

Faith is only as reliable as the person in whom it is placed. Because Jesus is faithful, our faith in Him has a secure foundation.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
—Hebrews 13:8

Circumstances change. People change. Our feelings change. Jesus does not.

Faith Does Not Mean We Never Feel Afraid

The song declares:

“I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.”

That is a wonderful expression of confidence, but it should not make struggling believers feel guilty whenever fear enters their hearts.

People who live by faith may still experience moments of anxiety, grief, confusion, and fear. Faith is not the complete absence of troubling emotions. Faith is the decision to bring those emotions to God instead of allowing them to lead us away from Him.

David frequently expressed fear in the Psalms, but he also declared:

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”
—Psalm 56:3

Notice that David did not say, “I will never be afraid.” He said, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust.”

Fear may knock on the door of our hearts, but faith decides who will be permitted to govern the house.

Living by faith means that when fear comes, we return our thoughts to the faithfulness of God.

The Difference Between Concern and Worry

There is a difference between responsibly addressing a concern and allowing worry to consume us.

Concern may lead us to pray, prepare, seek wisdom, or take appropriate action. Worry repeatedly carries us into an imaginary future where we attempt to solve problems that have not yet happened.

Jesus said:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
—Matthew 6:34

Jesus was not teaching irresponsibility. He was teaching us not to carry tomorrow’s burdens with today’s strength.

God gives us grace for today.

When tomorrow becomes today, He will provide the grace needed for that day as well.

Worry asks us to experience tomorrow’s trouble before tomorrow arrives. Faith brings us back into the presence of God today.

Faith Takes Life One Day at a Time

God frequently leads His children one step at a time.

When Israel traveled through the wilderness, God supplied manna for each day. The people were not meant to collect enough to secure themselves independently of Him. They had to awaken each morning and trust that God would provide again.

Jesus taught us to pray:

“Give us this day our daily bread.”
—Matthew 6:11

He did not teach us to demand a complete explanation of everything that would happen for the remainder of our lives.

Living by faith means receiving today as a gift and asking:

“Father, what would You have me do with this day?”

We may not know where the entire road leads, but we can obey God at the place where we are standing.

A life of faith is built through many small decisions to trust and obey.

Faith Talks to the Father

The hymn uses the word “confiding.” That is a beautiful description of prayer.

To confide in someone means to share what is truly within our hearts. God does not ask us to pretend that we are never confused, disappointed, or afraid. He invites us to talk with Him honestly.

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
—1 Peter 5:7

When I walk Sadie and talk to my Heavenly Father as though He were walking beside me, I am practicing this kind of faith. I may not hear an audible answer, but I can share my gratitude, worries, hopes, questions, and concerns with Him.

Prayer is one of the ways faith breathes.

We do not pray because God is unaware of our needs. We pray because we are His children and He desires a relationship with us.

Living by faith means learning to walk and talk with our Heavenly Father through every season of life.

Faith Does Not Promise a Trouble-Free Life

One line of the hymn speaks of being safe in the sheltering arms of Jesus. We must understand that promise biblically.

It does not mean believers will never become sick, suffer loss, experience persecution, or endure physical danger. Jesus plainly told His disciples that they would face trouble:

“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
—John 16:33

God’s shelter does not always mean that He prevents the storm. Sometimes it means that He keeps our souls secure while He carries us through it.

The apostles lived by faith, but many were persecuted. Paul lived by faith, but he experienced imprisonment, beatings, rejection, shipwreck, and hardship. Their suffering did not prove that God had abandoned them.

Faith does not say, “Nothing painful will happen to me.”

Faith says, “Nothing that happens can separate me from the love of God.”

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come…shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
—Romans 8:38–39

Our ultimate safety is not found in avoiding every earthly difficulty. It is found in belonging eternally to Jesus.

Faith and God’s Unanswered Questions

There will be times when we do not understand why God permits something to happen.

Faith does not require us to call pain pleasant or pretend that loss does not hurt. It allows us to say:

“Father, I do not understand this, but I still trust Your heart.”

Job did not understand the spiritual conflict surrounding his suffering. Joseph did not understand God’s entire plan while he was in the pit or the prison. Abraham did not know where God was leading when he left his homeland.

They had to obey with incomplete information.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
—Proverbs 3:5–6

If we insist upon understanding everything before trusting God, we are not truly walking by faith. Faith continues walking when the explanation has not yet arrived.

Faith Must Produce Obedience

Living by faith is more than feeling peaceful. Genuine faith changes the way we live.

Hebrews Chapter 11 repeatedly connects faith with action:

• By faith, Noah prepared the ark.
• By faith, Abraham obeyed and went out.
• By faith, Moses chose to identify with God’s people.
• By faith, Israel crossed the Red Sea.

Their faith became visible through obedience.

Faith says more than, “I believe God exists.” Faith says, “Because I believe God, I will do what He asks me to do.”

James wrote:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
—James 1:22

This connects living by faith with our “Be Attitude.” We abide in Christ, listen to His Word, trust His direction, and then become doers of what He has shown us.

We are not saved by our works. We are saved by grace through faith. But the faith that receives God’s grace begins producing a life of obedience.

Faith Helps Us Release Control

One reason faith can be difficult is that we naturally want control.

We want to know what will happen, when it will happen, why it will happen, and how everything will turn out.

God rarely gives us that much information.

Instead, He gives us Himself.

The choice to live by faith is also the choice to surrender the illusion that we control our lives. We make wise plans, fulfill our responsibilities, and seek God’s direction, but we hold our plans with open hands.

“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
—James 4:15

Surrender does not mean that we stop planning. It means that our plans remain subject to the will of God.

Living by faith means trusting that His wisdom is greater than ours.

Faith Looks Beyond This Present World

The hymn eventually directs our attention beyond the hardships of this life to our eternal home.

That is an essential part of living by faith.

If this present world were all that existed, many of our trials would seem senseless. But believers are traveling toward a destination we have not yet seen.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
—Hebrews 11:1

We have not yet seen the New Heaven and New Earth. We have not seen the dwelling place Jesus is preparing. We have not stood before Him or heard His voice welcome us home.

But we believe His promises.

Our faith reminds us that this earthly life is temporary. The suffering we experience here will not have the final word. Jesus is preparing an eternal future for everyone who belongs to Him.

We live by faith today because we are moving toward a future that God has already secured.

Faith Prepares Us to Stand Before Jesus

Living by faith also shapes how we use the time, abilities, opportunities, and resources God has entrusted to us.

One day, every believer will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Our salvation will not be decided there; salvation is already secured by grace through faith. But Jesus will evaluate how faithfully we lived after receiving His grace.

Did we trust Him enough to obey?

Did we use what He entrusted to us for His purposes?

Did we follow Him when obedience was difficult?

Did we remain faithful when we could not see immediate results?

Faithful service is not always dramatic. It may involve caring for someone, encouraging a discouraged person, giving generously, sharing the Gospel, forgiving an offense, praying privately, or continuing an assignment when no one seems to notice.

Living by faith means believing that obedience to Jesus always has eternal value—even when its results remain unseen on earth.

The Just Shall Live by Faith

Paul wrote:

“The just shall live by faith.”
—Romans 1:17

Faith is not merely the doorway through which we enter the Christian life. It is the way the Christian life must continually be lived.

We are saved by faith.

We walk by faith.

We pray by faith.

We obey by faith.

We serve by faith.

We endure by faith.

And one day, our faith will become sight.

Until then, we do not have to know everything tomorrow will bring. We only need to know that Jesus will remain faithful.

A Question for Today

Perhaps the most important question is not:

“What is going to happen tomorrow?”

The better question is:

“Will I trust Jesus today?”

We can spend our lives worrying about circumstances that may never happen, or we can place today into the hands of our Heavenly Father.

Living by faith does not mean that every day will contain sunshine. Some days will bring shadows, storms, and rain.

But through every changing season, one truth remains:

The Lord is still sovereign. His love has not changed. His promises have not failed. His Spirit remains within us. His grace will be sufficient. And our eternal future is secure in Jesus Christ.

We may not see the entire road.

But we know the One who does.

And so, one day, one prayer, and one obedient step at a time, we continue living by faith.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that You will be there. Forgive me for the times I have allowed worry to occupy the place that belongs to trust.

Teach me to walk by faith and not merely by what I can see. Help me bring every fear, burden, and unanswered question to You. Give me the courage to obey even when I cannot see the entire road ahead.

Thank You that living by faith does not mean living without difficulty. It means living with the assurance that nothing can separate me from Your love. Help me use today faithfully, serve You obediently, and keep my heart fixed upon the eternal home You have prepared.

Until my faith becomes sight, help me continue trusting, walking, and living by faith in Jesus.

In His name, amen.