Originally written in 2009
On the CBS show, Numbers, Dr. Charlie Epps holds up a fishbowl of water. He asks the class what they see when they looked at the fishbowl. They respond, “Nothing, but water.” Placing the fishbowl down, he reaches his hand into the bottom of the bowl. When he opens his hand it is filled with clear spheres. He explains to the class that they are hydrophilic spheres. They are hard crystals that when placed in water grow to three hundred (300) times their original size. They are invisible in the water because they have the identical refraction of light as the water itself. He dropped the spheres back into the water where they once again become invisible.
This is a good example of trusting in what is unseen (invisible). The students know that the hydrophilic spheres are in the bottom of the fishbowl – they just saw Dr. Epps place them in there. Yet, to their naked eye there is nothing in the fishbowl but water.
Saint Paul had a similar experience when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Up to that point Paul has been spiritually blind to the truth of Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is when he is physically blind that his spiritual eyes are opened. Once the shingles fall off Paul’s eyes he is able to trust that even though he can’t physically see Jesus – Jesus is right there with him always. Paul trusts in the unseen.
In the Prayer of Faith, from the Healing Service liturgy, we join together saying,
Father, we now accept Your promise of healing for us and with us. We believe that we receive this blessing so that we do not doubt in our hearts. By faith, we affirm that You are now raising us up. For the blessings that we see at once, we thank you by sight; and for the blessings that we do not see at once we thank You by faith.
Are you struggling to see Jesus in your current circumstances? Many times during healing we feel like Jesus is no where to be found. We ask questions like: “Did He hear my prayer? Is He even listening? Does He care what I’m going through? Why isn’t He answering?, etc.” We might not be able to see Jesus’ answer with our naked eye right away. However, we can have faith that even when unseen Jesus is at work in our circumstances.
I was talking with another Prayer Minister and she reminded me that Moses was only able to look at God’s back as He passed by. She explained that the Lord showed her that we often can only see Him at work in our lives in hindsight. This is often true of the different healings in our lives. When we look back over our lives we can clearly see God’s handiwork. Yet, when we are in the midst of our problems/circumstances we are blind to what Jesus is doing in our lives.
If you pray and change is unseen, don’t give up! Stand firm in faith that Jesus is at work in the situation. From personal experience I can tell you that as I look back at every overwhelming circumstance in my life I can see God’s fingerprints all over the place. The most difficult times in my past, when I couldn’t see Him anywhere, are covered the thickest with His fingerprints!
Until next time blessings and healing