Do You See What I See?
We fix our eyes on what is unseen, not on what is seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen are eternal. 2 Cor
4:18
When I was growing
up, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house. Many Friday nights I would
spend the night with them. They had an amazing assortment of interesting
gadgets. These often occupied my attention while they were watching Lawrence Welk and Heehaw. There was a covered
wagon made out of pewter, a box of “rattlesnake eggs” (a noise making gag toy),
and an Emmet Kelly doll. One of my favorite things at their house was a
triangular prism. I loved to hold it up to different kinds of light and see the
colors it unlocked. The window, the light fixture and the television all had
their own special rainbows. I would walk around the house with the prism up to
my eyes just to enjoy the interesting perspective. It showed me things that I
couldn’t see otherwise.
The
same thing is true in our spiritual lives. We look at the things we see around
us and often see hurt and injustice. This is a fallen world, and whether through
consequences of our own actions, spiritual warfare, or whatever reason, there
is a lot of suffering. It is much more difficult to find the hand of God in
these situations. This Sunday was the day after Christmas, and in church we
read about Herod’s murder of the innocents. The preacher admitted to sometimes
skipping past this difficult passage, and I understand. It raises some
difficult questions. What kind of
monster kills hundreds of children just to eliminate one? Why would God allow
it? Where was the justice? He went on to show how God did work through the
situation, not only in sparing Jesus life, but also by working in the bigger
picture. One of the things that he said is that even in terrible circumstances,
God is present. Also, there are forces at work that we cannot see.
I
know that in my life there are things in my life that are not as I want them. I
am personally dealing with hurt and injustice. I can see though, that God is
blessing me even in the midst of my trials. In many cases, the blessings are
not in material things or in circumstances changed that I can see. Instead,
they are the blessings of watching my teenagers learn to reach out to God and
accept the faith that we have tried to instill in them. They are the blessings
of God’s sustaining grace in my storm. Looking back I can see how things lined
up for God’s glory and my good. The storm is not over yet, but God is still in
it with me.
It
is so easy to look at the mountains in our lives and become discouraged.
Instead let us remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17 and 18:
For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, works for us a far more exceeding
[and] eternal weight of glory; while we
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen
are eternal.
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