UNSEEN GOD
From time immemorial, man has been in need of a God whom he can see. A form of God that he can bow down to ; a fierce deity . A powerful image of God is what man is seeking for . But the God I serve is not seen. He is unseen.
Isaiah 45:15 says
God and Savior of Israel you are a God that people cannot see.
But this God whom we cannot see, calls us His people to follow Him.
The Bible says in Isaiah 45:22
All people everywhere follow me and be saved. I am God. There is no other God .
How can we follow a God whom we cannot see?
In Psalms 77:19 the Bible says,
Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
If we cannot see Him, at least we should be able to see His footsteps so that we can follow Him. But the Bible says that we cannot see His footsteps too.
On the other hand, the unseen God wants us to wait for Him, obey Him, depend on Him and trust Him. Hence we feel so powerless and helpless. We find it hard to believe in an unseen God.
We are expected not to do anything on our own.
Rather, we have to talk to Him about everything and wait on Him to act.
We feel so powerless, but that is not true. We need not feel powerless. In fact we are the most powerful people on the earth and the most privileged to serve a God like our God. Even when we cannot see Him, we have to remind ourselves of a few traits about the God we serve. This will help us through the journey of our walk with Him.
1)Our God is a good God
Isaiah 45
Even though he is unseen, there is no evil in Him. He will never do anything that harms us. Jeremiah 29:11 , says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Not only is God good but He can also turn around intended evil for our ultimate good.
If we see the story of Joseph, unlike his forefathers Abraham or Jacob, Joseph had never seen God nor had an encounter with Him .God never revealed Himself to Joseph. All Joseph had was a dream and bad things started happening to him one after the other. No explanations. But he knew there was a God in heaven who is to be feared and obeyed. So he kept away from sin and kept following this unseen God faithfully for many years. He was ultimately blessed by God. Hence we know that though we cannot see His face we know for sure that His heart is good.
2) Though He is not seen , He can be heard
The Bible says His word is not hidden
“I did not speak in secret or hide my words in some dark place. I did not tell the family of Jacob to look for me in empty places. I am the LORD, and I speak the truth; I say what is right.”
Isaiah 45:19 NCV
He speaks predominantly through His written word, the Bible. We cannot find him in empty places but in places where His word can be heard.
There is no need to feel powerless. We need to read the Bible and listen to those who speak the word in truth. We need to hold on to His word. Speak it, decree it, declare it! Speak it to the father and wait for it to be accomplished.
He has said in Isaiah 55:11 that His word will not return empty or void. It will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.
He created the world though His word ( Gen 1:3)
He heals our disease through His word ( Psalms 107:20)
He calms the storm with his word (Psalms 107: 29)
He raises the dead with His word. ( John 11)
He will gather the saints and defeat the enemy with the sword that comes from his mouth.( Revelation 19:15)
Our eyes may not be able to see Him yet, but each one of us can hear His voice. Oh, if only we would take time to listen!
3) He will Reward us
Though we cannot see Him, He keeps watching over us. Not a single detail of our lives escapes the watchful eyes of our God. His eyes are ranging to and fro throughout the earth. (2 Chronicles 16:9)
He is the God who sees and rewards each man according to his deeds ( Matthew 16:27) Though we cannot see Him, we should never forget that He is watching both the good and the evil (Proverbs 15:3). He never sleeps or slumbers ( Psalms 121:4).
We can expect our unseen God to reward us. He administers justice and grace upon all mankind.
Finally,
4)He leads us through His servants.
Psalms 77:20 says,” You led your people like a flock by using Moses and Aaron.
Though we cannot see Him, He reveals himself to certain people who have been chosen by Him. He leads His people through them. We often think only about the greatness of people like Moses, Abraham, David and Paul . What we fail to see is the price they have paid to receive the revelations . Moses was one to whom God revealed himself in a whole different way(Exodus 33:11). When God wanted to speak to all the people of Israel they said they were afraid of Him. Exodus 19:10, Exodus 20:19)
They stood at a distance but Moses drew near into the thick cloud where God was. ( Exodus 20:21)
God wanted to speak to everyone but only Moses chose to pay the price. Everyone was more interested in God fulfilling the promise of a land of their own, but only Moses wanted the presence more than the promise (Exodus 33:15).
So God chooses to speak to us even to this day through His servants, like Moses. God is ready to reveal Himself and show Himself to people who are ready to wait in His presence.
Though we may feel weak and powerless in the hands of an unseen God, it is better to trust in God than to trust in man.( Psalms 118:8).
In your weakness His strength is made perfect. 2 Corinthians 12:9). He will show Himself strong on your behalf. He remains faithful to us for we serve a good God. You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. All you have to to do is, just trust Him. You are more powerful than you even know. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Finally, the truth I am trying to get across is this. I want you to know that the God you worship is more real than the greatest thing your eyes can see. He is watching over you. Just that we are blind and now unable to see Him. But the day will come when every eye shall see Him in all glory and every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. Until then, let us be faithful to His Word and the glimpses we see of Him and walk blameless before Him who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God Our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. ( Jude 1:24,25)
Holding on to His feet,
Jemimah Amirtharaj
