Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Hebrews 11:1-3

In January of 2021 I wrote a devotional titled, “Can You Hear Me Now?”.  I talked about the importance of listening to God, faith and why we should never mute Him.  Since hearing God is so important,  how can we see God?

God is at work all around us, and most of the time we never see Him.

It’s interesting how many people who confess to read and pray, daily, weekly or even monthly - don’t see God working in their lives.  This doesn’t mean that God is doing good in your life - it means He is at work in your life.  Sometimes I wonder if people only need God for good things.  And when we pray to God, why do we expect our “will” to be done.  After all, isn’t the prayer, “Thy will be done”?

I could never see God at work in my life until I turned my life to Him. I had to be stripped of everything that I believed was important to me.  Job, position, stature, material items, attention, money - it all had to be stripped.  And before someone reads this and says, “he didn’t say family”, that’s because God leaves some things for us to be thankful for, even when being stripped down.  My family was removed long enough for me to realize exactly where my attention should be. This is what I needed. Results may vary by independent users. 

It wasn’t that I wasn’t listening to God - because I wasn’t - it was because I had to listen to God in order to see God.  You can’t see God if you don’t hear Him.  So, in short, if you can hear God, you can see Him.  

It’s amazing to me how many people I see sitting at a restaurant table on their phones, oblivious to everything around them, including the company they are with.  I have had conversations with people who pretend to be listening to you, merely waiting for an opportunity to walk away, and then they do, first chance they get.  I watch as the world, and other things, grab our attention and take our focus away from what we profess is so important to us.  I didn’t listen to God, and He got my attention - fully.  And when I started to listen to God, I started to see God. 

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17

Both listening and seeing require complete obedience.  This doesn’t mean following the rules.  Because we can’t follow the rules.  Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.  We are sinners. And we are going to sin. 

We have to place God in our lives with priority.  Reading, praying and communing with God is how we hear and talk to God.  And when we start talking to God, and listen to Him, we start seeing Him at work.  

In no way does this mean that everything will start to work out perfectly and be blissful and good all the time.  It means you will start to see God working.  Sometimes God works for the good in our lives and sometimes it’s for someone else’s life, by using us.  Sometimes this work is not what we want or even what we feel we need.  And sometimes, well we just won’t understand any of it. Most of the time we just wonder why things are happening - because we just are hearing God. 

You don’t know what you don’t know. You will never understand God if you don’t read His word. He will never understand you, if you don’t pray to Him.  Our communion with God is so important to having Him in our lives and building our faith - faith is the entire basis of our Christianity. 

It’s when we stray, or pull back a little, or even if we walk away - that the journey becomes much harder. The things we see that are God working in our lives, don’t look the same - because we aren’t hearing God anymore. 

Reading builds our knowledge. Prayer builds our relationship. Faith begins to take shape by hearing God. And when our faith becomes stronger we begin to see God working all around us. 

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.””

‭‭John‬ ‭10:37-38

‬It is hard to believe in something you can not see, this is why faith is so important. And when we strengthen this faith by reading Gods word and praying to Him, we start to see God working in and around our lives. This is called believing.  We don’t need to see Jesus to believe that He is real. 

You will never be able to convince me that God doesn’t exist. Yes, it was hard for me to put it all together. The hope, the faith, the trust, the story of Jesus, our salvation, sanctification. It was all difficult to understand. Read your Bible. And never stop. Pray without ceasing. And each and every day you will begin to see God working around you. 

“Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.””

‭‭John‬ ‭20:27-29‬

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:14-17

Thank you for taking the time to read another devotional. 

Have a blessed day.