Another Year of Choices
By Barbara Dahlgren
My mom used to say, “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.” When you are young, such sayings don’t make much sense. As you age, you begin to understand.
We all know not to believe much of what we hear. Inaccurate gossip and rumors run rampant. But that seeing part is a little more difficult. Can’t we trust our own eyes? Maybe not. I once attended a magic show in Vegas where a tiger disappeared before my very eyes. Now I know that tiger didn’t just vaporize or become invisible – yet to the naked eye it disappeared. Which reinforces the concept that we can’t always believe what we see.
This year I saw the movie Now You See Me 2, a sequel to Now You See Me which came out in 2013. It’s a crime mystery about a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists, taking money from corrupt rich guys during their performances and giving it to their audiences. It has a good story line, but what I liked most was the way it showed some tricks of the magic trade – how magicians can convince others that it’s all magic when it’s actually skillful sleight of hand, misdirection, and suggestion. It’s all an illusion and the world of magic convinces me that we can’t always believe what we see.
Then there is another saying: seeing is believing. In other words, in order to accept something as true, we need to see it with our own eyes. Well, if we can’t believe half of what we see, how could seeing be the same as believing? With spiritual principles, just the opposite is true. When we believe, our eyes are opened and then we can see.
This concept should not surprise Christians who know that God uses contradictory terms all the time. Here are a few examples…
- We must lose our life to gain it.
- We must give to receive.
- God is the beginning and the end.
- Jesus was born of a virgin.
- We must be born again.
- The first will be last.
- There is strength in weakness.
There is much we can’t physically see but we need to believe in. Moses understood this. He forsook Egypt, enduring the wrath of the Pharaoh because he saw God who is invisible. In other words, he knew God was there. Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Elisha knew this. When the nation of Aram was ready to attack Elisha, his servant saw they were surrounded by horses and chariots. He thought it was just him and Elisha against the world, so he ran to Elisha saying, “What are we going to do?”
Elisha said, “Do not fear. Those that are with us are more than those who surround us.” Then Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant – then he saw the mountains were full of God’s horses, an army of angels, and chariots of fire. (2 Kings 6:16-17)
We as Christians cannot afford to just rely on what we can see. That’s what the children of Israel did. They were primarily influenced by what they could see instead of trusting in the invisible, eternal God. They lived an up and down existence because their faith was dependent on their circumstances. When God delivered them, they believed. When discomfort came, they didn’t believe. (Psalm 106:12-15)
Aren’t we a little like that? Christians who are preoccupied with external influences live an inconsistent life. Up one day, down the next. If the sun is shining, they’re happy. If it’s raining, they are said. They are unable to see God in everything.
Consider this… When our belief hinges totally on our sight, on only what we can see – we miss a lot of God’s “magic” in the world around us. We need to look beyond what we can only see with our physical eyes.
Suggestions for practicing this choice…
Everyone has evidence of God’s existence through the world around them. Creation demands a Creator. (Romans 1:20) Ask God to help you see His hand everywhere, throughout each and every day.
Think about this statement from St. Augustine: “Faith is believing what we do not see, and the reward for this kind of faith is to see what we believe.” Deep stuff!
Ask God to open your eyes to His goodness all around you. Psalm 27:13 says, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God.”
Think about things we can’t see but know are there. We can’t see the wind but we can feel the breeze. (John 3:8) We can’t see gravity but it holds us to the earth. These concepts should help us understand an invisible God a little better.
While it’s true some will only believe when they see, just remember that Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Ask God to help you believe.
