December 18 - From the Seen to the Unseen

The world that we all live in is a world tainted by sin and sinfulness is the daily reality we have to contend with. Yet the bible tells us that there is another realm above the natural and physical, that is the unseen, spiritual realm. What is seen is temporal, what is unseen is eternal. The difficult task is to reconcile the seen with the unseen. The servants of God, like David and Habakkuk, all had the experience of comparing, wrestling and reconciling the two realities.

David saw his enemies closing in on him, persecuting him and pushing him to the ground to the point that he felt like a dead man. When there was no more life within him, his spirit fainted and his heart trembled within him. That was what happened in the natural, causing him to lose heart and give up. However, he looked up to the unseen realm and found God to be faithful and just, He would hear his cry and come to his help. As he mused on what had happened in the past, about all God had done for him, he once again received encouragement to seek the Lord.

Habakkuk was in similar situation. He saw a people fierce and cruel, horrible and violent, proud and relying on their own might, totally unrighteous, coming to invade his country Judah. Destruction and violence were before him, the law was paralyzed and justice never went forth. The wicked were surrounding the righteous and justice was perverted. Clearly, what had happened and about to happen could not be reconciled with the nature and will of God. The seen world is far, far apart from the unseen world.

So the prophet raised questions towards God in his time of confusion. He asked why the Lord did not intervene and how long it would be for God to hear him. The second question he asked was more affirming, “Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die.” From the first request, focusing on the seen, to his second request, focusing on the unseen, his attitude changed in how he was looking at the seen. So Habakkuk took his stand at his watch post and stationed himself on the tower. He wanted to hear what the Lord had to say to him about the situation.

God affirmed him that He was going to do a new thing and he was asked to write down the vision on a clay tablet for others to read. His message was that the righteous shall live by faith. The living of our seen life must be based on the Unseen Real in our lives. Faith is trusting in the unseen so that we may make sense out of the seen. So in the end Habakkuk rejoiced in the Lord of his salvation. Even though he could not see the harvest and good days, he still trust the Lord, the Unseen Real. How is the seen part of your life? Go to the unseen and find God’s answer.