A missionary couple I met shared their testimony of God’s unseen protection while living in the war-torn country where they were stationed. Rebels attacked their town. They were trapped inside their home praying and fearing the worst. They could see the soldiers had surrounded their compound, but never advanced toward their house. When daybreak came the soldiers were gone but every house in the small town had been ransacked. Yet, theirs was untouched. Not knowing why, they could only give God praise. Months later after the fighting had finally ended, a man came to them who identified himself has one of the rebels that night. He wanted to know more about their God. Of course they immediately asked why the soldiers didn’t attach their home. The former guerilla fighter replied, “Oh, it was all those huge men dressed in white that were standing all around your house. We feared for our lives.” The missionary couple only saw the soldiers. The soldiers apparently saw God’s angels around their compound.
Recently, the LORD has been challenging me concerning His unseen or invisible works. I’m a logical, show me the evidence, kind of guy. I work through every detail before I make a decision. I approach studying the Bible with the same careful logical reasoning. However, this can be a negative at times. Being a logical thinker has produced some real challenges in my spiritual walk through the years. The past few months of our life have definitely been a journey of faith in the unseen. But this is what faith is all about. Now faith is . . . the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Scientists search endlessly to understand the origin of the universe gathering all the logical evidence they can from telescopes and satellites. Problem is the more they study, the more they realize how much they don’t know. The writer of Hebrews gives the answer, By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible (NET© 11:3).
The lesson in this is that serving God isn’t always logical. Neither do we, nor will we see or sense all He is doing. Unless the rebel fighter had returned to the missionaries, they would have never known what turned the soldiers away. They would have been left to accept by faith that God had done something.
In the Book of Esther the LORD isn’t even mentioned. However, as we read it now, it is obvious God was working. Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and prayed to the LORD, but there isn’t one voice from God, or a single revelation or manifestation recorded. Again however, it is obvious that Nehemiah couldn’t have accomplished the enormous task without God’s strength and guidance. Elijah sat in his cave despondent because he couldn’t see or sense that God was working in the sinful nation of Israel. God taught Elijah that sometimes He was like the gently blowing wind. Also, there are times like the missionaries when His work is completely unseen to us.
So what do we do when we feel that God isn’t doing anything in our particular situation that is beyond our reasoning; or we can’t see or sense His work; and feel helplessly on our own? That’s when we must depend on the promises of His Word. This is the time of year when many are approaching graduation and don’t have a clue what to do next. You may have asked God for guidance and haven’t seen any results. But remember God promised to guide us, but He didn’t promise we would always know what or how He’s guiding. So regardless of what you feel or what your logic is telling you, God is at work making all the arrangements for the next chapter in our life.
For others, you feel like the missionaries, trapped and fearing the worst. You may even see the enemies all around you. Even though there is no logical solution, God has promised to keep us until the end. Faith is looking beyond what is seen and clinging to His Word and knowing that He is working in the unseen and invisible realm.
God even promises that He causes all things to work together for good (Rom 8:28). All things include good and bad even though we can’t logic any good coming out of our bad situation. Last week, Donna was in a wreck that totaled her car. She is still banged and bruised but recovering. At the ER, the doctor preformed a MRI on her abdomen. Totally, unrelated to the injuries of the wreck, he discovered she had a large kidney stone in her one and only kidney. That could have been a serious or even deadly situation had it gone undetected. It would not have been discovered without the accident. God took a bad situation and brought good out of it.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
God is in control even if you aren’t aware of it or even if it doesn’t make logical sense. He’s given us a multitude of promises. So, have faith in His unseen and invisible workings.