In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me- John 16:16

November 17, 2007 Floyd Ray Gage

We are told that seeing is believing and that is true when everything is going our way and the world is turning up roses. But, when everything is in the dumps and all seems dark and dismal, seeing is believing comes up very short as a motto for living.

Jesus told His disciples that they would soon not see Him. This was going to be very true in a very short time. He would be crucified and they would not see Him. It did not mean that He was not going to still exist and still be working for them, but they would not be able to see Him. Later in this chapter, He tells them that this will bring them great distress.

From very small we are quick to fall into the seeing is believing mind frame. As long as we can see our mother, we are great, but let our mother get out of eye sight or ear shot and we would cry for her. Wise parents let the child come to the understanding that even when they can’t see them or hear them, the parent is still there. The child must learn to have faith that the parents are there even though they don’t have the sensory evidence to back that belief up.

Science has caused us to fall back into a seeing is believing attitude. We have this attitude because we think the world revolves around us. Just as the child gets upset when mother is off doing something other than tending to it, we become upset when there are things we can’t understand. We are quickly driven to doubt, when God is not serving our every need.

What the child and what we don’t understand is that others have to leave our immediate wants sometimes to serve our greatest needs. Jesus was going to have to leave the disciples in order to conquer death and sin. He was going to have to go away from them so that He could take the keys of death and hell from Satan. He also said that He was going to have to go away from them and us in a physical sense so that the Comforter would come. Jesus has had to leave our sensory arena in order to help us in the greatest ways that we need help.

The Bible tells us that faith is the essence of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Our faith is built the most when we can’t see, hear, or touch God. When we choose to believe, when it is beyond human reasoning to believe we are stretched beyond ourselves to the divine. We reach for Christ, when we can’t perceive Him in the immediate. We cry out to the Lord, when we can’t sense His presence.

This is why there are times that the Lord seems to be far away. Our sin can cause this, that is true, but our need to cause it as well. The Lord wants us to grow in our maturity. He wants us to rely upon Him. When we constantly feel His presence, we can start to take that for granted. The child that has a parent that always runs into the room when it cries, learns to manipulate it’s parents. He or she equates crying with attention and will cry when there is nothing to cry about. At times we become spoiled by God’s presence and start to take it for granted to the point that we feel we can live any way or do anything we please and God will still bless us and wrap us in His arms. We start to take Him for granted.

If God feels distant from you today, reach out to Him. Look into your heart and see if there is anything you can do to bridge the gap (i.e. repentance). Then seek His wisdom to see if He is trying to grow your faith. Is this a testing time to help you mature? Whatever conclusion you come to don’t let your faith be shaken. God is there for you!