“The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God.”
These and similar passages point to a central truth: the Christian life is meant to be lived by faith, not by constant, visible certainty. It is a life shaped by trust rather than by open vision.
Faith itself takes many forms, each valuable in its proper place, and all connected — more or less closely — to the life of faith. But the particular kind of faith that most directly sustains this life is the one that makes God present in every moment and in every event. The absence of this kind of faith is a major source of spiritual weakness. Because of this lack, many people who genuinely believe in God, in Christ, and even in their own final salvation still make very little progress in holiness.
They tend to hold to a general, abstract faith — one that deals in broad ideas rather than specific realities. By doing so, they place God at a distance. In contrast, a faith that is concrete and particular brings God near. It makes Him present and personal in every concern of life and establishes a continuous, living relationship between God and the soul.
We do not mean to minimize various expressions of faith. They matter, and they have their place. But it is difficult to doubt that the true life of God in the soul is sustained largely by this specific form of faith — the kind that recognizes God as present, not only in every moment of time, but also as present, either by permission or by direct action, in everything that happens.
1. Recognizing God’s Hand in Our Personal Lives
To begin applying this principle, we can say first that those who live with this sense of God’s constant presence will learn to see God's hand in everything that touches their own lives. They will recognize God in the preservation of their health and life, in their work and business affairs, in their joys and sorrows, in the strength or weakness of their minds, in their opportunities to learn, in their chances to do good, in their inner and outer temptations — in short, in everything that affects them.
This includes matters of mind, body, and possessions; things that bring suffering as well as things that call for action; and not only events that concern themselves directly, but also those that involve the people closest to them, especially family members.
2. Seeing God Even in the Actions of Our Enemies
The soul is placed in a position where it thinks far more about God than about the human instruments God allows to act. Looking beyond the secondary cause to the ultimate Author, the heart accepts the bitter cup from God’s hand with submission and gratitude. At the same time, it feels disapproval toward the human agent, yet this disapproval is softened and governed by compassion.
What transforms and sweetens the experience more than anything else is the clear, steady conviction that God is present — that it is God who offers the trial, even if through another’s wrongdoing. There is a deep and indescribable comfort in knowing, in every inward and outward trial, that the rod — whatever its immediate source — is held by a loving heavenly Father.
3. Trusting God While Faithfully Doing Our Daily Work
Yet even here, as in everything else, we must acknowledge God’s presence and activity. We are to do our duty, but we must also recognize God both when our efforts succeed and when they fail. We should not fix our attention too much on secondary causes — the rain and the sunshine, the plowing and the planting — important as they are. Instead, we must learn to look beyond them and draw nearer to the first and highest Cause.
God works through second causes, but God does not depend on them. They serve God; God does not serve them. They silently point to God's purposes, but they are not the true source of power or outcome, even though human beings often stop at what they can see.
Scripture reminds us that the one who waits endlessly for perfect conditions will never act, and the one who fears uncertainty will never harvest. We are to work faithfully, morning and evening alike, knowing that we cannot determine which effort will prosper — or whether both will succeed equally.
Blessed, indeed, is the person who can go about daily life — tending flocks like Abraham or working fields like Elisha — and see God everywhere: in trees and flowers, in streams and hills, in sunshine and clouds. Such a person connects God, intelligently and confidently, with every aspect of work — its timing, its nature, and its results.
4. Acknowledging God in Public and National Events
Yet, in this area especially, the faith of many Christians is surprisingly weak — so weak that it almost seems absent. This is far from how it should be. Only a strange and blinding unbelief could remove God from participation in the movements of nations.
No political event has ever occurred — no rise or fall of empires, no formation or collapse of parties, no outbreak of war or restoration of peace — without God’s hand being present, whether for judgment or mercy, for correction or blessing. This is the consistent teaching of both Scripture and reason.
God is declared to be the ruler among the nations. Kings reign and rulers govern by His permission. Even leaders who have no awareness of God’s oversight may still serve His purposes. Scripture shows that God can call and use rulers who do not know Him, directing their actions for ends far beyond their own intentions.
If only we would learn this great lesson—a lesson essential to anyone who desires the deepest spiritual life—of seeing God present in all things, whether directly acting or wisely permitting, in events great and small, lofty and ordinary. Without this vision, the soul loses its center of rest. Life becomes confusing, unstable, and overwhelming. We are tossed about by circumstances, and everything appears uncertain and hopeless.
Prayer: The Natural Expression of a Life of Faith
God is made present by faith so that He may be loved and communed with. True communion with God — what we commonly call prayer — naturally flows from this steady, specific faith. In fact, prayer is simply the soul expressing its present state before God.
The soul’s present state is always shaped by what is happening around it. When we connect these circumstances with God’s presence and activity, we are immediately drawn into real fellowship with God. We come to God about the very things that concern us most, and in doing so, we offer God the trust and openness that He desires.
In this sense, every day brings its own particular call to prayer — something especially fitting to place before our heavenly Father for guidance and blessing. The same is true of every hour, and even every moment. Those who live by faith not only recognize God in everything, but remain in communication with Him about everything, seeking His direction and blessing continually — and so they truly “pray without ceasing.”
"God of my life, whose gracious power,
Thro' varied deaths my soul hath led,
Or turn'd aside the fatal hour,
Or lifted up my sinking head!
"In all thy ways thy hand I own,
Thy ruling Providence I see;
Assist me still my course to run,
And still direct my paths to thee."
This is a revision of the first section of Part 1, Chapter 10 of Thomas C. Upham's book The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition 1844), written with the assistance of Microslop CoPilot. The original chapter can be found here: Considerations on the Life of Faith.
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