Seeing Beyond What You Can See

Did you start your new year off with a "theme word or phrase"? Everywhere I turn people have selected words related to vision for 2020 since 20/20 eyesight means you have perfect vision. But no-one seems more excited about the idea of 20/20 Vision than Rhonda, a dear friend of mine. She was excited because she heard the clear whisper of God that he wanted to give her clear vision spiritually in 2020. And she is really, really believing God. Here words have inspired me again. There's just nothing like hearing God speak to your heart especially when it is concerning something that has been growing in your spirit for a while. Rhonda's Dream Let me tell you how God used Rhonda's dream to influence me. She was so tired living in "sauna Florida" (No, sauna is not a place it the hot weather.) and she dreamed of living in the mountains where it was cooler. When she found her perfect patio lounger, she put it on her Facebook page. It was like a super, high-end hammock, made of a beautiful tan fabric instead of the roping that leaves marks on the back-side of your legs and arms. It was complete with an arched canopy to keep you cool as you relaxed and soothed your nerves swaying back and forth. The words she had typed below the picture echoed like sounds bouncing off a canyon wall in my head for days. They hounded me, like a persistent child repeats himself incessantly. She said... "I want this… in the mountains so I can lay there and be cool and look beyond what I can see…" The last phrase jumped off the page at me. "…and look beyond what I can see."   I recognized my Father's voice in those words. "Pat, look beyond what you can see.   See beyond what you can see." I'm telling you those were heavy words... more like heavenly words. Compelling Convicting Words. See beyond what you can see! What? Do you ever hear the whisper of God and then have no idea what He means. So I pondered the words and asked God to give me understanding. I can't see beyond what I can see or can I? There are plenty of examples in Scripture. That was what God was calling the children of Israel to do…see beyond the giants. But they didn't. That was what God was calling Joshua to do when he faced the thick walls of Jericho. And he did. The Israelites saw the giants... what they could see with their natural eyes; but Joshua saw beyond what he could see. He saw Almighty God; who stood behind His promise. And what they each saw determined where they lived and how they lived. Defeated or Victorious. What they saw determined whether they were victorious or defeated. The choice is obvious; if we want to live victorious! We have to see beyond what we can see with our natural eyes. It will take more than standing on a mountain...with binoculars or even a telescope to do that. Stumbled? The same day I stumbled onto Rhonda's post…stumbled? What a silly thought! When we walk with Jesus He guides our path. The same day I found Rhonda's post, I listened to a teaching that solved the question that rattled even louder than God's Words...HOW? My take away from that podcast was– Seeing from God's perspective requires a Biblically renewed mind. And that's how you can see beyond what you can see... you see through God's eyes to see what He sees. If I want to see what God sees I've got to crawl up in His arms, look out as He points His powerful finger in the direction of what He wants me to see. It means listening to Him...sometimes...for me it is most of the time...it means hearing His whisper. That's what revelation does... it opens your eyes and that's one of the roles of the Holy Spirit. It illuminates Scripture so you know Jesus better and what God has for you as a believer. It requires faith to see beyond what you can see. Faith that's rooted in God's promises. It requires mixing the discipline of studying God's Word with faith. It means choosing to believe, when reason is screaming in your ears. We must look through the lens of His Word and faith in that Word to see what God sees. Focus It means we have to focus on the unseen instead of the seen. 2 Cor 4:18 New International Version 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. It is especially important when things are difficult. Let's zoom in for a closer look at that verse, but this time let's read it from the Berean Study Bible starting with verse 17. …17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. With so many problems going on around us, let's refocus on Jesus. Let's renew our minds with promises and Scriptures instead of gossip and news reports. Let's believe God's Word. Declare His promises and keep on doing until HIs will comes in our homes and in our lives. Let's pray. Dear God, help us to look beyond what I can see to behold you …to behold your face… to see what you see, so we can be what you called us to be. So we can do what you called us to do. Did you see what was beyond the tree? Are you seeing what is beyond what you can see?