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Not seeing yet believing

In the 1970s, a group of people in the audience in the front row of a cinema theater fled from their seats before the oncoming train on the screen. A great grandmother waved her handkerchief as the queen’s carriage passed by on the screen. There are those who refuse to believe that man landed on the moon because the pictures look like they were made in a lab with shady black and white images. We learn from experience that not all we see is real and all that glitters is not gold. Supermarket discounts appear to offer products at half-price turn out to be not real when you go there to shop. In the age of electronic mass media when video clips on social media go 'viral’, people doubt about what is real and what isn’t.

Seeing and believing may seem easy. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29) and “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is a significant difference between believing without seeing and believing after seeing, (or because of seeing). Not seeing yet believing, on the other hand is difficult because it is a very demanding path that involves more willingness, more readiness for exposure to probable dangers. It takes faith to believe what is not seen. Someone has said in a song, “to be guided by a hand I cannot hold; to trust in a way that I cannot see that's what faith must be."

We use the many phrases with 'seeing' to mean understanding. The phrases “Oh I see” or "see what I mean" are comonly used phrases. Malls and stores are filled with objects where you look, see or feel with your hands. Seeing God is not like looking at an object in the mall. When we look at objects, we are often doing nothing more than engaging the rational, critical faculty of our mind. There is no particular investment in the object itself. It is possible to “see” God, and yet not be able to describe or even relate what you saw. It is not the knowledge of an object, rather it is an experiential understanding of a person.

Peter writes to a group of persecuted believers of Jesus who have not seen Christ in person. Yet they believe in Him and love Him. “You have never seen Jesus and you don’t see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him” (1Peter 1: 8). Peter says that they have an imperishable faith, which is "of greater worth than gold that is refined by fire, yet is perishable" (1 Pet 1:6).

There are countless things we can never know with certainty. We demand more evidence to feel secure. We have no idea what a year, a month, a week, or even a day might bring. We may be gripped by the fear of the unknown future, about a diagnosis or the news of a disaster or the potential for a war. So we pray and plan, and then we trust in God who knows fully and completely. We see a God who knows everythnig and loves deeply who will not abandon us even when we demand to see Him. He will come to reveal himself to the believing as well as the doubting.

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Blessings

Mathew Philip

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