Seeing and Believing

Seeing and Believing

It is hard at times to hold onto hope when everything we see looks so bleak, and though the words from 2 Corinthians “we walk by faith and not by sight” ring true, often they don’t seem to ring NOW, when we want them to. This was brought to mind today when Pastor Jeff Stewart from CC Pomona Valley shared briefly yet beautifully about his wife Karen and her lung cancer and how the scriptures spoke to them when Jesus was in the boat with the disciples during the storm and they cried out to Him, Lord don’t you care what's happening here! Jesus response was “why are you afraid, how is it that you have no faith” Now we all know they should have had confidence in the Lord, after all Jesus was in the boat with them, but we also know all to well the reason why they didn’t have faith don’t we? It was because of all they could see, was literally all that they could see.
Many of you know our son Samuel is at boot camp to become a Marine, what not many know is that he has become a letter-writing maniac! Before going into boot camp I could count on half a hand all the times Samuel had written, but now he has written to both his grandparents (a couple of times), to many of his friends and to us five times. What has been so neat for us is the content of the letters, things like “please pray for me” or, “I went to church again” or our favorite “I miss you and can’t wait to see you” The reason I mention his letters is not merely to brag about our son, who in just a few months time has become a family hero (especially to the grandparents), I write it to make the point that, what we never could have seen or imagined a few months ago is today a reality written and right in front of us. So then, what is it that you are having trouble seeing? Is it the restoration of a relationship? Is it the return of a wayward child? Remember just because you don’t see it does not mean that it is not there, and even if the situation does not work out the way you would think best, Jesus is still in the boat or maybe more fitting to your situation like Paul when he was alone in prison, it says “But the following night the Lord stood by him” (Acts 23:11) You may not see Him there, but who are you going to believe? Jesus,

...or what it is you think you see?