Focus on the unseen...

It has become increasingly hard to be positive and stay positive in the world we are living in.  I made a decision years ago, in my teenage years, so a long time ago, to not read the newspaper or watch the news. 

Now, I know there are some people I come across that think this is horrible and that I should know what is happening in the world, and it is plain ignorant of me, and to them I say, you are right. 

I choose to be ignorant, when it comes to hatred and violence that fills the daily news.

I would much rather spend my time focusing on something that is going to make me laugh, educate me or just help me relax.  To spend my time watching and hearing about how people are killing each other, stealing from each other, or berating each other, is not my idea of uplifting quality information.

It is difficult with all this information streaming around us constantly, on a twenty-four hour loop, to stay focused and hold on tightly to your dreams and promises. 

I think it is hard enough to find God in the life we are leading now a days, that when you hear of violence, death and hate, how should your heart and spirit react?

If I am ignorant, then so be it, I am living in ignorant bliss, or attempted bliss, I should say.

We all want to be happy, we want the final scene in a romantic comedy, where the guy gets the girl and they run happily through a field of daisy’s, but unfortunately life is not the end of a movie, and we have to fight, battle, do work constantly, to keep our minds in line with God’s promises for us.

In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 we are given the rule, key or hint on how to achieve the bliss of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (17) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that for outweighs them all. (18) So we fix our eyes on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Wow…  How opposite is that of what the world tells us and teaches us.  We are told that we need to place our hope in the seen and make our decisions based on what we see, and how we feel.  We are raised from babies to trust our sight, and other senses to keep us safe, and help us make decisions in life.

Now, to some extent that is truth, but this is not what we are to base our life on. Our eyesight should not be our judgment of what is happening in our lives, in fact we can be very deceived, and your eyesight, can lead you down a path of confusion and fear.

We see that we are to not lose heart and that even though we are aging and our bodies are wasting away, we are being renewed daily, in our spirits.  Our spirit man is what matters in the end.  This shell of our bodies is just the vessel we live in while here on earth.  Your spirit ,the place when God dwells, is the essence of you, the core of you, the part of you that will live on in eternity.

We don’t need to lose heart, lose patience, or faith in the promises of God, because the outward appearance isn’t what we expect to see.  God works many miracles in secret, just like you were created in secret, in your mother’s womb and then suddenly, (oh, how I love that word) you are thrust into the world.

What changes many lives, and the world, in just a matter of seconds, has actually been formed for months in secret.  In the protection of the mother’s womb and with God’s handiwork stitching you together.

It’s very difficult to not give up, to give in and quit on the promises God has made to you in His book, or secretly to your heart.  These promises are made to and for us to stand on, to be sure in. 

And many many times we don’t see the coming together of any of it.  We can look back on the time leading up to the “suddenly", like a photo album in our minds, and pin point places where you can now see God changing you, or changing your environment, to create your “suddenly”. 

But what changes things for us, the people around us and for God is when we allow the faith that He has given us, to open our spiritual eyes to the unseen.  You don’t question whether the sun will rise, because it’s always there, you don’t question the authenticity of the wind, as it blows across your skin, so why do we question God?

Do we question God because we are afraid of surrendering our lives over to him?  I know for me this is true.  I know my heart loves God, with a love that I have never known before and a love that I can’t explain, but yet, I still am hesitant to fully embrace, trust and let go.

There is a thread of deception I tell myself, to keep me in control, so I think, of my life.  To keep my life in balance, and between me and you, like a string on a sweater that gets longer and longer with each wearing, this is what God is doing in my life.  He is slowly pulling the strings away from me, and making me trust Him more every day.

When we open our eyes and trust our sight, we are not living in the reality that is God.  We are living in our own reality and beliefs.  We are putting faith in the seen, instead of the unseen, which is Him.

There is going to be things you can see and touch every day, things you can rely on, and know that they will always be there, but those things that God has placed deep in your heart, they probably aren’t seen.  They probably aren’t visible to our earthly eyes, but the eyes of our spirit can see them clearly.

We need to hold on to the eyes of our spirit, and function from the place of hope, love, mercy and grace.  We can’t touch God, We can’t call Him up on the phone, but yet, we know He is there.   We know we can rely on His promises and for Him to make a way for us.

Believing in the unseen, pressing forward to what has yet to happen, in faith, is pleasing to God.  We know that we cannot please God without faith, and that is faith in Him and in His plan for us.

Allow your eyes, heart and spirit to only soak in, believe in a bit of what you see happening around you, and take the rest of the time to use the eyes of your spirit to see what God is creating for you. 

Our futures are so bright in the Lord and focusing on what is eternal instead of what is temporary will change our stress levels, priorities, and help us allow God to pull the control string of our lives.  We can sit back and watch for our “Suddenly” to arrive!

Again, I say, ignorance is bliss, if it keeps my eyes on the unseen instead of focusing on what is seen!