Believing Beyond What We Can See

In this place of waiting, wondering, and wrestling I will remember that He never stops working (even when I cannot see it).

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In seasons of pain, loss, or waiting it is easy to get stuck in only what is before our eyes. After all, isn’t there a saying, “Seeing is believing”? In my life and in the life of most believers— what we see is rarely a true gauge for what God is doing.

God is always working in the place of “beyond what we can see.” I love the one stanza in the popular song, Way Maker, that says,

Even when I don’t see it, You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working
You never stop, You never stop working
You never stop, You never stop working

Many years ago when my husband and I were trying to adopt our oldest daughter (she was a baby at the time), it seemed that everywhere we turned we hit a dead-end or obstacle that was too big to cross over. But we had clearly heard God’s voice, again and again, saying, “This is your daughter.” Even some of the strongest believers we knew doubted as they looked with their eyes at the impossibilities that laid before us month after month. One day the judge on her case told me with much force, “You don’t have a prayer!” But…that is exactly what we had! Then, two months after we lost her, the case was closed and she was to go to another family…God, who never stops working, did a miracle, and overnight she was in our arms as our daughter! We couldn’t see Him working— we didn’t even know if He was working…but He was working and it was in the place of “beyond what we can see.”

That doesn’t mean we didn’t weep. We wept with a grief that we didn’t know was possible. It doesn’t mean we didn’t grapple with wondering if we had not heard right. We truly had to question everything about how we heard God. It doesn’t mean we didn’t waver in our faith. When the case was closed on us, we completely lost faith…not in God but in what we thought we heard.

But, behind the scenes, this was happening,

Even when I don’t see it, You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working
You never stop, You never stop working
You never stop, You never stop working.

Our Way Maker was working! Once again many of us find ourselves in a similar place. Very little that my eyes see make sense. Most of the “seen” contradicts what I thought I heard about so many things. The current losses seem to far outweigh any possible victory. So, in this place of waiting, wondering, and wrestling I will remember that He never stops working (even when I cannot see it).

As I am writing this little post of encouragement (yes, even to encouraging my own soul), my husband walked into the room with a cup of coffee for me, in a mug that I don’t remember owning, that says,

“Be still and know…” Psalm 46:10

Once again He speaks in personal and mysterious ways…His still, small voice silences the fears and calms the waves…

“Be still My daughter. I am not finished yet.”

And so I let down all of the self-protection that wants to guard my heart, I weep again but in renewed hope, and I cling to the One who has never failed me.

No matter what you are facing or what your eyes see— He never stops working. His promise in Jeremiah 29:11 is still true!

“For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
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You may have woke up this morning feeling pain and deep sorrow but the Lord’s declaration is that He will give you a future and a hope. You may not “see” any hope but that is where our Way Maker makes a way. If you are “in the land of the living” and you call upon His name then this promise is for you. For those who have passed out of the land of the living (and called upon His name)— they have received the fullness of their HOPE! It’s an eternal promise.

Do not despair to the point of losing hope. We are “prisoners of hope” that will hope beyond what our eyes can see.

“Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles.” Zechariah 9:12

 

 

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Inscribe Ministries

Featured Image by astoltz from Pixabay

 

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Jeffrey and Kathi Pelton understand our culture’s need for encouragement and hope. Through writing and speaking, they escort individuals into awareness of God’s profound compassion and mercy that heals brokenness, and they have a unique ability to help anyone seeking pathways into His kind embrace. For several years, the couple led a house of prayer located in Kelowna, British Columbia.