Faith in the Unseen

I had an eye exam the other day and it turns out I still need glasses. Never in life do you experience the need for both eyes then when they test each individual eye. I’m reminded two is always better than one. I was riding in the car without my glasses on and I realized that you can not always trust what your eyes see. I trust the driver with my life, they have never gotten in an accident and I have no reason to believe that they are driving recklessly, but my eyes see differently. I perceived that we were going to get in an accident and I found myself reaching for the door handle and closing my eyes. But then it hit me (not the air bag), but the thought that what my eyes are perceiving is in fact a lie, I can’t trust my eyes to see reality. Then I closed my eyes and what I couldn’t see was the driver driving safely, but I trusted and had faith that they were. And then it hit me again. Sometimes we really do need to have faith in the unseen. It’s not easy, we have this desire to control everything, and in my effort to stop an accident that wasn’t even going to happen I communicate that I don’t trust this person, but even that’s not true. It’s like a snowball effect. That’s exactly the schemes of Satan.

How many times do we walk around in life and see or experience things that aren’t in fact true? I have to adjust my perspective (put on my glasses). So that I can see clearly. I believe that blurry vision and confusion are exactly what leads to chaos. We stop seeing others with the love we once had for them. The disappointments pile up and the hurt is deep. We take off our glasses and we can only see what’s right in front of our faces, ourselves. We stop seeing the future and we focus on the here and now.

I already told this story, but it continues to be true…as a parent I have learned the hard truth that I have to parent each child different. We are no different, God doesn’t care what other people have or what “blessings” they have and “why don’t I have that?” whining. He cares about you and only you. He cares about your heart and where He’s leading you. He wants to grow you and He loves you enough to not give you what others have, but what you need. He’s looking at the bigger picture…leading you and shaping you into His image, into what He created you for. And something we have to understand is we can’t walk every road, we can’t have everything. We have to put our glasses on and see through Jesus’ eyes. To see the children as blessings, not as nuisances. To see the significant other as a treasure, not a ball and chain. To see the work as a privilege, not a burden.

I honestly don’t understand the prosperity gospel, I mean I do. After going through some life experiences that perspective is dangerous and honestly I’m guilty of believing it at some point or another, but I officially give it up for the truth. There is a lot of bad in this broken world. I’ve been listening to this book and the author talks about garden to garden. This place in between glory to glory is just that…not perfect. BUT what I’ve experienced in my life gives me hope. If God is so willing and loving to begin the process of restoration and resurrection here on Earth then His promises are surely YES and AMEN. He will finish what He has started. No, restoration isn’t perfect. Resurrecting and giving us a new spirit is not perfect, but a perfect work in progress. I have a bad habit of thinking of things as wrong or right, black and white, bad and good. <—All those things have it’s place, but there’s this space where God’s working, where He is moving, where He is mending and healing and that’s not so black and white. And I’ve personally learn to trust and have faith in the waiting.

I found myself needing a break from social media again, nothing crazy happened, but my heart was heavy with comparison and my mind was distracted. I have learned through real life experience that this battle we often face internally is not one of the flesh, but of the spirit. We all have a soul…I think it’s fair to admit that no matter what you believe, because as a society we are able to recognize people as whole beings not just a bag of bones, but more than that. Our spirit and our soul are often left to battle it out in the mind and surely we can see the mental health of our society is on the hinges and hanging in the balances of the whims of media. And as I slowly take the power away from those external things and focus on what is good for my spirit and soul I feel my joy and peace returning. Clarity begins to take over versus the chaos of what I see and hear. My vision is restored and I can perceive what is good in my life. I can breath a little easier. I still see the struggles and disasters of the world around me, but I can also see God moving. And I’m able to have faith in the unseen that one day all will be right. God will bring us from glory to glory no matter what prosperity or tragedy comes, He will restore it all. I just needed a quick reminder to not follow my heart, but to lead it.