THE EYE OF FAITH: WHAT YOU DON’T SEE MATTERS
The Bible says that faith pleases God. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “…the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” In other words, if you see it you can’t believe for it because you can already see the evidence. Put another way, seeing does not require believing. On the other hand, not seeing does require believing. When we choose to believe the promises of God’s Word despite lack of evidence, we tap into the substance of God-pleasing faith.
n 2007 I went through a procedure to remove a tumor in my hand thought to be benign. Because they did not anesthetize me enough, I heard the doctors talking about evidence pointing to possible bone cancer during the procedure. It was like being in a nightmare and not being able to wake up. In the days following, worse case scenarios were brought up, all of which were discouraging.
Despite what it looked like, I received prayer from others, digested scripture and did my best to block out the voice of fear. After a month of tests and two more operations, it turned out not to be cancer. They were so sure it was. I was “one in a thousand that it was not,” they said, because of what they saw. God moved because we chose to believe in spite of what they saw. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus said:
“…Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24-25 ESV)
Faith is grounded in God’s Word, executed through persistent prayer and intensified through audible declarations. The confession of your lips together with envisioning in your heart the possession of what you need paves the way for the Holy Spirit to act. For 30 straight days I did that. I rested in his sovereign hand while simultaneously wrestling in faith for my own. It was a month of trusting God no matter what happened while travailing for what I wanted to happen. God proved faithful, and the surgeon was dumbfounded.
On January 13, of this (2025) year, I sustained a rare eye stroke while reading scripture. Long story short, I am mostly limited to using my right eye because my left eye lid stays shut. Double vision prevails if I try to use both eyes together even if I hold my left eye lid up. It has been diagnosed as a third cranial nerve stroke that can, if all goes right, heal in three to six months. I am praying, believing, and confessing for sooner while replacing “can” with “will.” It comes down to what God says in his Word and I choose to believe that.
To be honest there are some difficult and discouraging days. I look like Rocky Balboa after he LOST a fight. (Some humorously say it’s an improvement.) But that’s where decision must guide emotion. It is literally a day to day walk. Confirmation from scripture spoken to me on three occasions from three different unknowing sources has kept fuel in my faith tank. May it do the same for you. Here it is: “…for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV)
Keep believing for what you are not yet seeing, one step at a time, one day at a time. The more you lean into God the clearer his voice becomes. Cultivate quiet time to block out the world’s noise. Read and meditate over God’s Word. He will often take what is written and speak that to your heart in a way that fits your situation. Pray it, see it and say it repeatedly. Small gains will turn into larger ones over time.
Finally, let this be a major motivation: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV). It is a great honor to please God through the exercise of faith. And because faith acts, I try to function the best I can with one eye while trusting that God is at work on the other. I am reminded that while we come to him by faith we must also live for him in faith. And we do that by inviting and embracing the love and prayers of others.
