The Things Not Seen

"While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2nd Co. 4:18)

It's important to have spiritual eyes. To keep our eyes on the eternal and not on the temporal. I think that's one of the reasons why faith is such a struggle for people. Believing what God has said is not always easy when compared to the mountain of physical evidence in front of us. What we see and how we feel wars against the truth of God's Word.

Romans 10:17 tells us that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." We tend to synthesize this down to faith comes from hearing God's Word but it's a little more than that. Faith comes by hearing ... hearing comes by God's Word. The Jewish concept of hearing was a little different than ours. Hearing was equated with doing or believing -- not just the physical import of information.

When we submit ourselves to God's Word we begin the process of receiving what He has said. As we receive it faith arises in our hearts. Not a passive faith, but an active, life-changing faith. A faith that changes us -- that changes our lives. As we hear God's voice (in all the wonderful ways that He speaks to us) we grow in relationship. As we grow in relationship, we grow in trust. As we trust, we walk by faith and not by sight. When we do that we take our eyes off the temporal stuff and fix our gaze on the eternal. The view looks a whole lot better from there.