Unseen
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory." 1 Peter 1:8
Our most precious gift is unseen; the most beautiful part of us can't be tangibly held and understood with our physical bodies, yet it's the "most real" part of us. Pause and reflect on the world-shaking reality: our most-precious gift can't be seen, yet it's the "most real." The treasure of Christ is precious, dear, Holy. We can't find anything more set apart, hopeful, or valuable than the gift of salvation.
The trials that come simply illuminate this hope and remind us of our greater reality: the work of the spiritual world is "more real" as it is separate from the chains of this world. The spiritual realm has a greater reality because it holds the physical world together. If the spiritual realm is "more real," then we can't go to the physical world for the answers, the comfort, the satisfaction, the joy, the belonging that our heart longs after. The true comfort from trials can only be found in Holy Spirit Himself.
Stay with me! I have a motive for developing this crazy concept, don't worry!
I've been convicted at how easily I go to the world for comfort and satisfaction; I mean, we all do, and I always have, but I was especially blown away this week while I checked Instagram and Facebook--hoping for the small piece of encouragement, to feed my endorphin addiction, of course. I was appalled: I was drawing satisfaction from a Facebook comment and Instagram post? What?
I can hardly describe the thoughts that began running through my mind at that moment: "I need to see a sunrise! I need to dig in the dirt! I need to feel coldness on my face. I need to be surrounded by only what is real." We can be distracted all day by our physical bodies: the ailments, the work, the pain, even the joys. But what happens when you cross over to something virtual and fed by instant gratification? A fear came over me, and that's why dirt suddenly became extremely appealing (ha)! We truly can be distracted all day by our physical limitations, and the physical realm all-together, but it can always be a means to direct our gaze back to the Father--where we should be. But what about the world of social media? The instant gratification is satisfying, but it demands more and more, and we become more and more unaware of our greatest reality: our spiritual self. We don't go to Jesus to seek hope, we go to Facebook.
How could've we come to this place... The blood that was poured over our filth and offense is no longer enough? We want something now; we want assurance, happiness, hope, now.
We are forgetting the elements of our hope! The cross that could not hold Him is suddenly less real? The grace we were given by a perfect fulfillment of the law is now secondary? It maybe sounds harsh, but I think, if we all looked honestly at ourselves, we would discover this great divorce in our hearts: we would see that we are wanting something more than Jesus. And my heart breaks...
There is an "instant gratification" in Christ, too, but it takes time, faith, perseverance, endurance, hope. Don't let the "cyber universe" take you from the Creator of the Universe. He is unseen, yet more real than the physical device you are reading these words on. Get distracted by Him.
Our most precious gift is unseen; the most beautiful part of us can't be tangibly held and understood with our physical bodies, yet it's the "most real" part of us. Pause and reflect on the world-shaking reality: our most-precious gift can't be seen, yet it's the "most real." The treasure of Christ is precious, dear, Holy. We can't find anything more set apart, hopeful, or valuable than the gift of salvation.
The trials that come simply illuminate this hope and remind us of our greater reality: the work of the spiritual world is "more real" as it is separate from the chains of this world. The spiritual realm has a greater reality because it holds the physical world together. If the spiritual realm is "more real," then we can't go to the physical world for the answers, the comfort, the satisfaction, the joy, the belonging that our heart longs after. The true comfort from trials can only be found in Holy Spirit Himself.
Stay with me! I have a motive for developing this crazy concept, don't worry!
I've been convicted at how easily I go to the world for comfort and satisfaction; I mean, we all do, and I always have, but I was especially blown away this week while I checked Instagram and Facebook--hoping for the small piece of encouragement, to feed my endorphin addiction, of course. I was appalled: I was drawing satisfaction from a Facebook comment and Instagram post? What?
I can hardly describe the thoughts that began running through my mind at that moment: "I need to see a sunrise! I need to dig in the dirt! I need to feel coldness on my face. I need to be surrounded by only what is real." We can be distracted all day by our physical bodies: the ailments, the work, the pain, even the joys. But what happens when you cross over to something virtual and fed by instant gratification? A fear came over me, and that's why dirt suddenly became extremely appealing (ha)! We truly can be distracted all day by our physical limitations, and the physical realm all-together, but it can always be a means to direct our gaze back to the Father--where we should be. But what about the world of social media? The instant gratification is satisfying, but it demands more and more, and we become more and more unaware of our greatest reality: our spiritual self. We don't go to Jesus to seek hope, we go to Facebook.
How could've we come to this place... The blood that was poured over our filth and offense is no longer enough? We want something now; we want assurance, happiness, hope, now.
We are forgetting the elements of our hope! The cross that could not hold Him is suddenly less real? The grace we were given by a perfect fulfillment of the law is now secondary? It maybe sounds harsh, but I think, if we all looked honestly at ourselves, we would discover this great divorce in our hearts: we would see that we are wanting something more than Jesus. And my heart breaks...
There is an "instant gratification" in Christ, too, but it takes time, faith, perseverance, endurance, hope. Don't let the "cyber universe" take you from the Creator of the Universe. He is unseen, yet more real than the physical device you are reading these words on. Get distracted by Him.
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