I was Blind, but now I See

Q: Would you please explain `how can we serve a God we can`t see`?

A: Back in August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States. Damage estimates were in the billions of dollars. To this day, three years later, many of the communities effected by the storm are still recovering. Some of which may never fully get back to the way they were before the storm struck. The flood waters from the storm surge along with tornadoes and rain did much of the damage. However, the force behind what caused all the damage was the wind! Hurricane force winds can range from 75 mph to over 155 mph depending on the intensity of the storm. But one thing is a mystery in all of this. Nobody has ever seen the wind. All we see are the effects of it. The circulating winds of a hurricane gather up clouds to form the well-known pattern of a hurricane we are used to seeing. The winds bend trees, snap branches, rip homes from their foundations, throw debris all over the place at deadly speeds and creates havoc. We don't see the wind, but we definitely see its effect!

The Bible states that God is spirit (John 4:24). And like the wind, spirit doesn't have a visible shape or form, but the evidence of God is all around us. In Paul's letter to the Romans we read, "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Romans 1:20)." In regards to hurricanes, the Bible talked about how winds blow in cyclones (Ecclesiastes 1:6) and how the earth is a sphere (Isaiah 40:22) long before modern day science confirmed these facts. And this doesn't even begin to address the evidence that is all around us in our environment. The trees, the mountains, the animals, the sun, the moon, the stars, mankind and everything else in all creation are a testament to the existence, and creative powers, of God (Genesis 1). The overwhelming abundance of evidence in the world is why scripture says that man is without excuse when it come to acknowledging His existence. It is not up to God to reveal Himself to us, but it is up to us to respond to the evidence He has already placed in His creation.

Many people will never forget where they were on the morning of September 11, 2001, as they looked on in horror as hijacked passenger planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, killing thousands. Similarly, although it happened over 60 years ago, most of us struggle to look at the images of the Holocaust survivors who were liberated from the Nazi Concentration Camps, near the end of World War II, where millions suffered and died. And everybody condemns the atrocities suffered by millions of African slaves in the Americas for over 400 years. People from every walk of life, regardless of their beliefs about God, have an ingrained sense of morality in which to judge what is right and what is wrong. Where does that come from? "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them (Romans 2: 14-15)." The basis for human morality, written on our hearts and our consciences, was put their by God. Granted, their are many people who don't acknowledge this fact, or the existence of God, but, nonetheless, it is still there. This is yet one more evidence of a God, who may not be seen, but whose influence on the world is clear.

With all the evidence in the world, and within our human spirit, that testifies to the existence of God, He knew that when it came to mankind, "seeing is believing." "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3: 21-24)." God built us a creation to enjoy and love, but we still didn't acknowledge Him. He placed in our hearts the building blocks of His ethical standards. We used them, but did so apart from faith in Him. Therefore, in His love for us, and desire to have a relationship with us, He stepped into His creation in the person of Jesus Christ. It is by faith in the sinless life, sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that God offers us the free gift of eternal life for all those who believe. God does not expect us to have blind faith in Him. The Christian doesn't operate by blind faith, but by a faith backed by the evidence of the world we live in, the testimony in our hearts and, ultimately, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

Therefore, we do not "serve a God we can't see." We serve a God whose existence we cannot deny and who we personally know through faith in Jesus Christ. It is perfectly normal to have doubts or concerns about placing faith in Jesus Christ and a God we have not physically seen or touched. There are today, and have been throughout history, millions of Christians who serve a God they can't see, but who proclaim the Gospel, without hesitation, because of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. History tells us that even those who knew Jesus personally had doubts about Him. Peter denied knowing Him and Thomas did not believe He had risen from the dead. But, the words of Jesus, said to strengthen and encourage Thomas, are words that can strengthen and encourage any Christian. "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29)."