Seeing What Is Invisible To Others

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Jonathan Swift, an Anglo-Irish author from the 17th century who was best known for writing Gulliver's Travels, once wrote, "Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." A more modern example is Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I have a dream" speech delivered in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. In that speech, he painted a powerful picture of the future as he hoped it would be. Though it was not a reality in his day, which was tragically cut short, he nonetheless proclaimed, "I have a dream." Statements like these about the future reveal the author's faith, belief or hope. More often than not, what a person says about the future reveals more than what he says about the present.

We see the same principle in the Bible, especially in Hebrews 11, where we see many men and women of God who also had dreams or had visions of a better future. For example, when Joseph was about to die, he reminded his brothers of God's promises to establish Abraham's descendants in Canaan as their home. "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones" (Heb. 11:22). He made them promise to take his bones with them and bury him there, which Moses did 430 years later. Joseph had a dream of the nation of Israel dwelling in the Promised Land and by his faith in God, he knew that this dream would come true.

Do you have a dream? A spouse or children you hope will turn to Christ? A hope of restoring a broken relationship? A desire for a career or vocation? Your words of hope and faith about the future are the evidence of your belief. If we don't see any possibility of restoring a relationship or in a loved one turning to Christ, then we rarely express any words of hope and faith about the future. We need to look with spiritual eyes to the horizon and see them afar off, and be persuaded of them, and embrace them (v.13). Where is our faith? How are we expressing it? What happened to having a dream of better things to come and walking and working by the grace of God towards the culmination of that dream?

We serve a God of promise and He has "given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4). His precious and living Word, the Bible, is full of promises for His children. If your life is full of fears, failures, a lack of faith and hope, and dreamless, search the Bible for an exceeding great and precious promise of God to be your dream. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, living as a man on this earth, had a dream - "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).

We have been given exceeding great and precious promises (dreams and hopes to us) by God. Do you believe and are you persuaded in the promises of God for you, your relationships, your purpose and direction in life? Then dream big, hope large and show your faith in those promises and in the God of those promises by speaking and acting on them today.

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Copyright © 2020, Mark Varga, All rights reserved.