As I was growing up I heard many times that seeing is believing. Now that I am an adult I realize that the exact opposite is true. Believing allows me to see what cannot be seen by my eyes. God, air, gravity and emotions are a few thing that I cannot see but definitely believe in.
I think for many years the adults that told me this phrase over and over did me a great injustice. I don’t blame them for my narrow mindlessness because I chose to believe the statement. If I couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist and that was that.
I now have see such significant proof of what is unseen. I primarily want to talk about God because when I opened my eyes to God I saw the world totally different. John Lubbock an English banker that lived in the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds once said, “What we do see depends on what we look for….” How true!
When my eyes were closed to God primarily because I never opened a Bible my life was just average and just an existence. I got through life each day struggling to make a dollar, careless about paying my bills, drinking and suffering with hangovers all day at work. I was a body on this planet called earth. I was living in the moment for my own pleasure and was thoughtless on how it effected my life and others.
Now let me say this, my eyes were not immediately opened to God when something wonderful happened that was life changing. I was a big believer in luck at that time and not God’s grace. The first big thing I recognized as God opened my eyes was after my divorce in 2003. I was living in a small town with my young daughter and everyone knew the scandal (my word) of my divorce. Everyone knew my ex-husband had a girlfriend when we were married, that he abused alcohol and drugs and I was struggling to keep my house.
I remember I turned to my boss for help saying I was going to move to Dallas because I couldn’t afford my house payment of $1100 while making $19,000 per year. His response to me was, “You can buy a smaller house.” This broke my heart because after working for him fourteen years I was sure he would give me a raise to get me to stay.
That night I went home and as my little girl slept curled up in my bed I cried. I needed someone to help me and everyone I turned to turned their back on me. This was the first time I turned to God. Not knowing Him I stumbled through a prayer in my mind. “God I have nowhere else to turn. I have nothing and am losing hope. I have heard you can help me get a better life for my daughter and myself. I don’t know how You do that but I am going to place my faith in You.” I was exhausted from praying and crying and fell asleep.
I woke up at 6:30 am with the sun shining down on my daughter as she still continued to sleep. She look so tiny in the bed but the rays of sunshine shining on her were so bright. It all became clear to me. We needed to move to Dallas and start a new life. I had a new peace I had never felt before within me. I still didn’t recognize this was God’s grace for many years but now I can look back and clearly see it.
Within a few weeks of making the decision to move, I obtained a new job paying over $50,000 per year, leased a condo in Dallas, and met my sweet husband online. God’s grace and alignment was so perfect. He had a beautiful plan for this transition to Dallas. Lexie and I also got baptized accepting Christ as our Savior.
I strongly feel that God can be seen and felt. A person who has lost their eyesight learns to enhance their other sensory receptors. They touch things to feel the shape and texture. They become more acute in the way they hear things. I enhanced my sensory receptors when it came to seeing God.
I cannot physically touch God but I do feel Him. I can feel His warmth come over me as well as His peace in my heart. I struggled constantly with anxiety and worry before I opened up to God to the point of ridiculous thoughts. Unrealistic thoughts. When I surrendered my worry and anxiety over to God I took a very deep breath and He immediately calmed me. I still feel this today when I take a very deep breath in and think to myself, “God’s love in (exhale) Gratitude out!” I feel like I am filling my lungs with God’s love and holding it within me becoming thankful and releasing gratitude. I find myself taking a deep breath now when I feel frustrated or possibly when I want to say something negative. I know it’s God reminding me to choose my words carefully.
I also see Him with my eyes in nature every day. Have you ever seen a cloud formation be the same any two days? No because they aren’t. The way the wind blows and atmospheric condition constantly effect the clouds so no two clouds will every look the same. True with snowflakes too. Each snowflake falls and floats through clouds with different temperatures and moisture levels, which shapes each snowflake in a unique way. Even though two snowflakes may form in the same cloud, their different journeys to the ground will affect their shape and size, giving each snowflake its own unique identity. (www.wonderopolis.com). This is true with our lives and journeys too. The beauty of nature is God visually.
I can also touch God. When I touched my dying mother-in-law’s hand just before she went to heaven I felt God. The warmth of her hand as I held it was God’s warmth reaching down as her took her to eternal life. When I hug someone that is suffering it seems that God gives me a special feeling to share His love with that person. The hug will always feel different if the person I am hugging needs comfort and strength as opposed to hugging a friend.
Hearing God for me has become much easier as I immerse myself in the Bible and constantly learning more about Him. It’s not a booming voice for me but a gentle thought in my mind that coincides with my heart. It is always calming, makes complete sense and seems like my own thought. I know it is Him inside me as The Holy Spirit.
The definition of unseen is unperceived or unnoticed. I can’t say that God is unperceived or unnoticed. We recognize him and many ways that may not be the literal ways like with our eyes or physical touch. The examples I have shared with you are all unconventional ways of seeing God by looking for God in different ways. He is in every single thing around us. I challenge you today to look at the things around you and recognize God. Thank Him for every blessing that surrounds you and thank Him in advance for His grace and mercy he will bestow on you when needed.
I am grateful for you reading my blog and expanding your love For God. He and I love you more than you can ever know. LoLo
gratefulgratitude.net 