Trust

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

This is the time of year when sometimes we have morning fog. When there is fog in an area you know, such as your back yard or your street, you know what is out there, but you can’t see it through the shroud of fog.

Fog is a symbol of trust. Your visibility is affected, not what is there. Everything is the still the same, it’s just hidden.

Christ is like that in our lives. There are days it is so crystal clear He is there; you can’t wait to see what happens next, and it feels like living for Him is so easy. Then there are spiritually foggy days, and it may not seem all that beautiful. All I know is that God doesn’t seem so close on those days. Whether it’s something that’s happened, or something I’m anxious about, the view doesn’t seem so clear. It’s those mornings that I have to force myself to remember that He is still there, but for that day He has decided I need to exercise my hope and faith more, trusting in the unseen.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18). We look not at the things which are seen “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Co 5:7), remembering that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (He 11:1).

In a paradox, pretty much all we see is temporary. Look around – what is there around us that will be here a hundred years from now? But what are the things we value about the past? Memories, which are our remembered thoughts. Family stories, which are really memories that have been passed on. What we treasure most about the past are often the things that can’t be held but only remembered or passed on.  In the same vein, when we live for God, we aren’t living in the past, but in the future. We are not “fixing our eyes on what is seen”, which is today, but fixing our eyes on the unseen eternal future that waits for our soul. Paul writes that what is unseen is eternal.

Looking around, I see that many today believe there is the now, which we call life and at some point, we transition into the eternal. In my yuounger days, I didn’t really spend much time thinking deeply about this, and I’m sure that it’s the same for most of us. As the old saying goes, youth is wasted on the youngm and we don’t spend time contemplating the eternal. Until you get a little older time doesn’t have the value and meaning it does when you are a young person. I realize now that there is no difference between the now and the eternal – we are already eternal beings, but God has given us a temporal experience here first.

So, it has become very important to me to realize a couple things lately. First, what I think about and focus my mind on is very important. I need to make sure my mind and should are focused where they need to be, and that I learn to see and reclaim any negative thoughts, or any thoughts that aren’t properly directed toward God. That is a daily process. I’ve seen that it isn’t enough just to identify seek to get rid of thoughts in my mind. They need to be replaced. We don’t just want to pull the weeds – all that does is leave space for them to return – I am looking to specifically identify Scripture that I want to plant in its place. 

 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) 

My choice this morning is to remind myself of Who my provider is.

I choose to rest in the knowledge that God will supply all my needs.