Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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I was going through a basement closet and I found some buried treasure. Actually, it was a little suitcase filled with the love letters that my wife and I had exchanged over two years of our courtship and engagement - and no you can't see them. It was pretty moving for me, though, to read them again after so many years. As I relived our early romance through those letters, I had an idea, why not put some of these in a scrapbook and give them as a gift to my wife. Small problem: how am I going to do this and keep it a surprise? Well, I set up a partition in the back half of our basement. I moved some big furniture around to further obstruct the view, and I made myself a secret "No Trespassing" workshop! Finally, one day I presented my wife with this book entitled "Chronicles of a Lifetime Love." She had no idea what I'd been working on for her - I did all the work on it, out of her sight!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out of Sight."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Why is it so important to understand what faith is all about? Well, chapter 11 verse 6, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Faith is the way to God's heart. Faith is "...being certain of what we do not see." This is not how we are wired to think. Instinctively, we're only sure of what we can see - what we can hold. We're slaves to the visible, the tangible. God is like me working on that scrapbook in the basement, He's doing something very special, but He's doing it mostly out of sight.
Faith isn't based on the evidence that you can see, it's based on the character of the God you're trusting. In chapter 11 verse 3 in Hebrews it says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command." If He can do that, isn't your situation a piece of cake compared to forming the universe? It could be that what you can see right now is pretty discouraging: 'I can't see where the money is going to come from, the place I need, the person I need, the strength I need, the healing I need.' What's in your hand or even in your reach just isn't going to do it. But, remember much of God's greatest work is done out of your sight.
The flowers that burst and bloom in the spring have been germinating out of sight for a long time before that. That new born baby you hold in your hands has been developing out of sight for months. In fact, it takes a test to find out that the little person is even inside a woman. God does some awesome work invisibly, and He's doing invisible work for you right now. If you react or decide, based on just what you can see, you're proceeding on incomplete data. You're likely to make a mistake!
Faith reaches beyond the visible and says, "God is going to keep His promises." The God factor radically changes this whole equation. He's working right now on the answer that will bring Him the most Glory and me the most good. I'm not going to panic, I'm not going to abandon ship, I'm not going to act as if things are out of control. Why? Because faith is being certain of what we do not see because of the kind of God we have.
My wife had no idea what was going on behind that screen in the basement, but she trusted me. Behind the screen, God is working on a gift for you that is very special, and you'll see it when it's done. Until then, trust in the One whose work you cannot see, but whose love you should never doubt.