Not As It Appears

2 Corinthians 4:18                                           Not As It Appears

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (NIV).

At first glance, this appears to be a springtime picture of a tree or bush covered with beautiful white blossoms.  Well, I took this picture during a rare snowfall in Tucson, and all the white stuff is snow.  So, in this case what is seen is very temporary.  The snow melted within a few hours.  What is unseen, the twigs covered by snow, are certainly not eternal, but they will last longer than the snow.

I have two applications for this Scripture.  First, If we are to live by faith, we must be able to take our eyes off what we see and put them on what God has promised.  That is often not easy to do.  The car payment is due tomorrow, but the bank account is empty and payday isn’t due for a week and a half.  It’s not easy to see the car payment made on time.  The most extreme circumstance I had of this kind involved my wife who was in intensive care.  I didn’t know what to expect as I walked into the room.  At least four or five people were working feverishly on her, and numerous tubes and several machines were attached to her body.  I felt like they had let me come in so I could say goodbye.  My heart hit the floor, and my spirit cried out to God.  She soon stabilized enough that the medical personnel seemed to slow down and give a sigh of relief.  In my prayers that night God asked me to put her in His hands.  After a while, I did, and He assured me that He would take care of her and give her back to me.  I was able to see not what I had seen but what He showed me, my wife healed.  She left intensive care about twelve days later.

The second application is not as dramatic, but it is important.  In this world, we need to be careful that we are not deceived.  Not all that looks good or sounds good is actually of God, but may be from the deceiver.  Deceit is his major tool, so we have to be careful to be constantly checking God’s Word to determine the source and the “goodness” or “badness” of what we hear.