Book 3 of Musings The Eyes of Faith

Faith is a glimpse of the future as well as of what is invisible.

Sometimes we say that we walk by faith and not by sight. We mean we walk by the eyes of faith rather than by physical eyes.

The disciples pointed out the Temple of Herod to the Lord. Jesus saw the Temple in ruins. What a wonderful ability it is to see things as they actually are!

I think the Lord has constructed the world the way He has so He might test us. We can see the things of the world. Then the Bible tells us that we do not see what is desirable and eternal. So we are forced to see with the eyes of faith. We place our treasures in Heaven by faith. We set our mind on things above by faith.

The righteous live by faith. This means the righteous do not depend on what can be seen with physical eyes. They do not find their survival and security in the things of the world. The righteous are motivated and guided by faith, by "seeing what is invisible."

Why has God done this to us do you suppose? Why has He put us in a world that we can see and hear and feel, and then tell us to live our life in terms of a world we cannot see or hear or feel? Why?

Well, what does it say about us when we refuse to go by what we can see in this world and live by what we can see only by faith?

It says we believe God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him diligently.

It says we believe what God has said and are willing to gamble our life on His trustworthiness.

It says we have a healthy fear of God.

It says (and I believe this particular statement is specially important) that we expect better things of God than this present world. We believe He can do better than this.

It says we are not content to live in the appetites of the sinful nature. We are hoping for something higher and better. It says we are different from the multitude of human beings who are willing to work, play, sleep, eat, and reproduce, and be content with this. We are betting our lives on the fact that there is a glorious world of righteousness somewhere; and if we please God we will live there someday

Sometimes we imagine that if we could actually see God we would believe and obey Him; that when we die we will be faithful Christians because then we can see God.

Not so. Satan rebelled against God when he could see Him.

Faith is really our testimony of God's character. This testimony does not depend on whether or not we can actually see God. Our assessment of God's character comes out of the deepest part of our nature. Why one person has faith in God's trustworthiness and another person does not, I am not able to say.

Satan called into question God's reliability, and Eve failed the test. She was not persuaded God was doing what was best for her.

We cannot see God now. According to the Book of Revelation, there will come a time when we actually see God. Seeing God will be the greatest of all blessings, but it will not increase our faith.

It is up to us to show in this world what we believe to be true of God's Character.

And God is watching to see what our response will be!

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)