{"id":3553,"date":"2016-07-24T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3553"},"modified":"2016-07-09T18:43:12","modified_gmt":"2016-07-09T23:43:12","slug":"choose-to-look-beyond-what-you-can-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3553","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Look Beyond What You Can See"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Another Year of Choices <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3555\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Magic-google-advanced-free-search-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"Magic - google advanced free search\" width=\"188\" height=\"142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Magic-google-advanced-free-search-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Magic-google-advanced-free-search.jpg 478w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 188px) 100vw, 188px\" \/>My mom used to say, \u201cDon\u2019t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.\u201d When you are young, such sayings don\u2019t make much sense. As you age, you begin to understand.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t 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\u2019t just vaporize or become invisible \u2013 yet to the naked eye it disappeared. Which reinforces the concept that we can\u2019t always believe what we see.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3557\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Now-You-See-Me-commons.widimedia.org_-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Now You See Me - commons.widimedia.org\" width=\"195\" height=\"110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Now-You-See-Me-commons.widimedia.org_-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Now-You-See-Me-commons.widimedia.org_.jpg 479w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This year I saw the movie<em> Now You See Me 2<\/em>, a sequel to <em>Now You See Me<\/em> which came out in 2013. It\u2019s 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 \u2013 how magicians can convince others that it\u2019s all magic when it\u2019s actually skillful sleight of hand, misdirection, and suggestion. It\u2019s all an illusion and the world of magic convinces me that we can\u2019t always believe what we see.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This concept should not surprise Christians who know that God uses contradictory terms all the time. Here are a few examples\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3558 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mark-8.35-www.churchart.com_-211x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mark 8.35 - www.churchart.com\" width=\"210\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mark-8.35-www.churchart.com_-211x300.jpg 211w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mark-8.35-www.churchart.com_-600x852.jpg 600w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mark-8.35-www.churchart.com_.jpg 634w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We must lose our life to gain it.<\/li>\n<li>We must give to receive.<\/li>\n<li>God is the beginning and the end.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus was born of a virgin.<\/li>\n<li>We must be born again.<\/li>\n<li>The first will be last.<\/li>\n<li>There is strength in weakness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is much we can\u2019t 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\u2019t see something doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n<p>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, \u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elisha said, \u201cDo not fear. Those that are with us are more than those who surround us.\u201d Then Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant \u2013 then he saw the mountains were full of God\u2019s horses, an army of angels, and chariots of fire. (2 Kings 6:16-17)<\/p>\n<p>We as Christians cannot afford to just rely on what we can see. That\u2019s 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\u2019t believe. (Psalm 106:12-15)<\/p>\n<p>Aren\u2019t 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\u2019re happy. If it\u2019s raining, they are said. They are unable to see God in everything.<\/p>\n<p>Consider this\u2026 When our belief hinges totally on our sight, on only what we can see \u2013 we miss a lot of God\u2019s \u201cmagic\u201d in the world around us. We need to look beyond what we can only see with our physical eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3560\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-20.29-www.churchart.com_-1-209x300.jpg\" alt=\"John 20.29 - www.churchart.com\" width=\"209\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-20.29-www.churchart.com_-1-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-20.29-www.churchart.com_-1.jpg 303w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Suggestions for practicing this choice\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone has evidence of God\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Think about this statement from St. Augustine: \u201cFaith is believing what we do not see, and the reward for this kind of faith is to see what we believe.\u201d Deep stuff!<\/p>\n<p>Ask God to open your eyes to His goodness all around you. Psalm 27:13 says, \u201cI would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Think about things we can\u2019t see but know are there. We can\u2019t see the wind but we can feel the breeze. (John 3:8) We can\u2019t see gravity but it holds us to the earth. These concepts should help us understand an invisible God a little better.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s true some will only believe when they see, just remember that Jesus told Thomas, \u201cBlessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.&#8221; (John 20:29) Ask God to help you believe.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another Year of Choices By Barbara Dahlgren My mom used to say, \u201cDon\u2019t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.\u201d When you are young, such sayings don\u2019t make much sense. As you age, you begin to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3553\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}