Invisible

Years ago I was introduced to Beverly Doolittle's art. Her pictures are quite extraordinary. Below is scene with what I assume are mountain goats. I think there are 13.

While that picture might have obvious images, this one takes a bit more effort.

I won't even begin to guess what is in here beyond 2 horses and their riders.

Pictures like this remind us that there is always more than our eyes can see. Some parts might be obvious but others aren't. It doesn't make them less present or less important, just unnoticeable without significant effort.

Colossians 1:16-17 says: For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.

To break it down~

He made it all

It's all about him 

All the things means all the things

He was before it

He holds it all together

But let's just focus for a moment on all the things. Why? Because it includes more than we realize. We see the word all but we think objects, things we can hold and use. But it goes beyond the tangible to include our situations, dreams, circumstances, and desires. It's not just the concrete (visible) things, it's the abstract (invisible) things, too. That's the part we miss and it's important.

Behind each visible thing in our lives is an invisible purpose. And while that purpose can have more facets than a diamond, there is one that is most prominent: our faith.

As the author of our faith, Jesus decides what each sentence, paragraph, and chapter will look like in our story. We need to stop resisting what he is writing and let him build and fortifiy our faith and then welcome the opportunities to share it. 

Problem is we resist it! Faith is typically not built when things are easy or perfect. Faith is built when we know we have no control over what is happening or what the outcome will be and somehow Jesus comes through with something we couldn't have planned or anticipated. Not only that, but it's always better than what we could have come up with or attempted on our own.

We all have things we wish were different. Jobs, health, marriages, childhoods, etc. It's tempting to wish away what God has and will use to display his faithfulness because we don't like suffering, we don't like hard, and we don't like the unknown. (Trust me, I'm living it.) But if all of that pulls us closer to his heart and allows us to feel his very real and deep love, then it seems worth it. So let's lament what we need to lament and then pray that God will help us see the faith that is being built. In doing that we'll be able to give a testimony that shines his goodness from glory to glory.