Over the past number of weeks, I have had the opportunity to sit in a passenger seat beside my son as he learns to drive a car. I would be lying if I did not admit to the experience as being more than a little intense, and perhaps a little scary, at times. However, as time has passed and miles driven have accumulated, it has become more enjoyable, feeling more like a privilege as milestones—watching turns become easy, successful navigation of rotaries, crossing busy intersections, traveling roads with higher speed limits, etc.—have been reached. The process and progress seem to be coming together and everything (knowledge, skills, confidence, and belief) falling into place.

Thinking back on the beginning of this journey with my son, it all started, like many things, with overcoming any trepidation and taking a leap of faith. Gaining strength from the desire within—“I want to.” Then, with some support and encouragement, a vision—“I think I can.” Finally, moving into action and proceeding with patience—“I know I can, because I am.”

On the countless roads we travel, sometimes old or familiar, sometimes new, a reminder that while the surface and surroundings may change, underneath, and at the heart of whatever matter it may be, it is really all the same. Walk (or drive), but go by faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. – Hebrews 11:8-16