it's hard to believe in what you can't see...

Wouldn't it be easier to believe God if we could see Him?  I've got to admit, that would be nice for me.  To be able to see Jesus, or at least an Angel of the Lord ... I'd be unwavering, I just know it.  How could I ever doubt His goodness or faithfulness again if only I could just see Him?  And sometimes I find jealousy or envy in my heart of the disciples and early Church who did see Him.  They touched Him.  They heard His voice flowing through human vocal cords, vibrating their tympanic membranes and entering cochlea. And oh, for just one chance to hold that Hand ...


But as much as I long for that (and One Glorious Day, I know I will have it), part of me knows I would be robbed of a greater joy that is faith.  "We live by what we believe, not by what we can see." 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NCV).  Though I cannot see His physical hand, I count it grace and blessing that He opens my eyes to see the work of His hand every day.  To feel His touch in the way the sunshine warmly caresses my face and arms.  To see His provision in the cereal on my kids' spoons.  To hear Him singing over me in the songs of cardinals, blue jays, and robins in my yard.  To experience the way He loves me in the arms of the people He gifts me.  It's no less Him.  In fact, perhaps it's even more. 


Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” -John 20:29 (CEB) 


Am I indeed happy that I can't see Him?  That I get to walk by faith instead of by these cornea and retina? Could there be something even stronger, even more evident, than seeing? 

I know that God stuffed His infinite and unfathomable Self into human form, and though some saw Him, it was only in part.  Because He is this image, but He is also beyond it.  He is like wind, like rain, like fire, like oil, like the stars and so much more than we could ever understand (Isaiah 55: 8-9). 


Yes, Lord.  I am happy to know You sans vision of You. To feel Your hand in mine by way of another, more spiritual, sensory input. Yes, Mary was blessed to kiss Your feet.  And I count myself at least as blessed to know Your Being through my faith, passed to me from Your Spirit, if not even just a little bit more.  May belief be my sixth and strongest sense, as I know you more every day.  If you show me Your Glory, I'll perceive it.  This, my vow today.