Recently I had to go through a series of doctor’s appointments. Nothing serious, just routine check-ups and such. Since moving to south Florida I actually had not even seen a physician so these were first time visits, in other words, lots of paperwork. The optometrist was up first. When I walked through the front door the place was empty (not a good sign if it’s a restaurant but I suppose it’s a bit different for doctors). While approaching the receptionist I glanced behind her desk and hanging on the wall was a picture of a lighthouse. There was an inscription written beneath it:

VISION - Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.

Notwithstanding the rarity in message, at least for a doctor’s office, I found it to be very appropriate and had to take a mental note. While I was waiting to be seen by the doctor, with blurred vision from my eyes being dilated, I meditated on those words from the picture in the context of faith, specifically regarding my will to believe. Over the next few days I wrote down some thoughts…

GOD IS THE GOD IN THIS RELATIONSHIP.

The current pop culture of America, it seems, has adopted the buzz phrase “my faith” as a means to communicate that sustaining force which keeps one strong in uncertain times. However, what I have found to be true of faith is that it is a precious gift from Heaven. Without it I would never see God. Furthermore, to believe requires me to activate that gift with my will. I have to choose to believe and my part is to take God at His word. My participation in the Divine discourse solely depends upon what I know to be true of God, that is to say, what He has chosen to reveal about Himself by His word, deed, and Spirit. Just like the biblical heroes of old who each responded to the progressive revelation of a covenant making (and keeping) God, I can only “see” Him as much as He allows Himself to be seen. Left to my own devices I might make God into the golden calf of my imagination or even worse, into my own image. A while back I wrote a lyric that goes, “I am merely the man being ground into dust. You are the God of Love that I get to trust.” He is the God in this relationship. I am the man. And because of His unfailing love He resists any of my attempts to try and manipulate or control Him -to make Him be what I want. That’s not a relationship. That’s not real faith. And that’s certainly not what pleases Him. So what is real faith? A good place to start looking would be Abram, the man without an heir who would later become known as the “father of a multitude”.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND TO BELIEVE. I BELIEVE TO UNDERSTAND.

If anyone can rightly use the phrase “my faith” it would be Abraham. To even begin to understand the ramifications of his obedient departure from Ur of the Chaldeans we need to divorce our thoughts from any knowledge of Jesus, the Gospels, the Church, as well as any theological premises regarding Israel and her relationship to the God revealed as I AM. We need to forget such verses as, “The righteous will live by his faith”. Forget the famous encounter Thomas had with Jesus in the upper room who said, “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” The apostolic prayer of Paul would not be on our lips, “I pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened…” We would not know yet that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”? And of course we wouldn’t have the clear, concise definition of what faith really is, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We would simply have to resolve to know nothing about God and examine a man who possessed exceptional faith before it was called faith. Yes, the dynamics of faith were operating in lives of people before Abraham. However, without much prior knowledge of Jehova, Abraham dared to believe beyond his own ability to understand.

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to Abraham, saying, “This man (Eliezer of Damascus) will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look towards the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:4-6).

Abraham was justified by his faith because God did what God said He would do. Each promise made was met with a sincere belief, and in faith Abraham took steps towards those promises. More astounding is the fact that some promises would never even be realized within his lifetime. He didn’t see things as they were, but as they were to be. Take for instance the Gen 22 narrative where Abraham leads Isaac up to Mt. Moriah to be sacrificed. This encounter has so many layers of plotline in which to draw from, most notably is the obvious: Isaac as a type of Christ. Now imagine this scenario without all our Christian knowledge getting in the way. Imagine Abraham as a man with a somewhat sophomoric understanding of who God is. In this excruciatingly painful lesson (the requirement of Isaac’s life) God reveals a part of His nature previously unknown to Abraham. By asking for this most treasured gift, Isaac, God was cementing a memory that would serve every generation of Abraham to come. God even confesses the reason why He chose Abraham in the first place, “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord…” (Gen. 18:19).

God initiated a relationship with Abraham by petitioning on the level of what he desired the most, an heir from his own household. God had since made Abraham a wealthy man on his journey to the land of promise but he ashamedly had no one to leave his legacy with. So we can understand a little more the severity of the request when God asks for the life of Isaac back. And yet something miraculous happens, not just an encounter with the Angel of the Lord, not just the acquittal of Isaac, nor even just the ram caught in the thicket as a substitute. The ultimate plot twist in this ever-unfolding drama is that God reveals another part of Himself to mankind. Abraham responds by naming that place JEHOVA JIREH, “The Lord Will Provide”. Though a more accurate translation is “THE LORD WILL BE SEEN.” Abraham saw something in that exchange that He had never seen before. I personally believe that God literally opened his eyes to see the future generations of his family. There he recognized one of his descendants, a carpenter’s son, who would have a very similar encounter to the one he was just having. In that moment an understanding, a perception, a knowing came to him that clarified all the events pertaining to this foreign God. That something much bigger and more involved than he could ever comprehend was at work. He had vision.

RECAPITULATION

So I come to my last doctor’s appointment of the week (with a certain satisfaction I might add). This is also a first time visit, and as usual I needed to fill out more paperwork. So I took a seat with the clipboard in hand and began to run the drill. Glancing up to my left (there was no way to avoid it) I saw on the wall another picture frame similar to the one in the optometrist office. This one, however, was a picture of some trees in a field blown by the wind. In big, cursive letters below the picture (and right at eye level) read the word BELIEVE. Laughter ensued (there was no one in this office either, a healthy sign for south Florida I presume, and besides, I didn’t look crazy). “God has a funny sense of humor.” I
thought to myself. Surely, everyone who walks through the front doors sees that word plain as day. Some may give it a casual read. Some may scoff. Others may read it before they go in or after they come out of the office, meditating in the context of whatever is on the mind. To me it was a reminder of how I get to see who God really is, and of what He desires for us. As much as I want to know God in His full capacity He wants that even more. Believing in faith regardless of the circumstances sharpens my spiritual insight and allows me to see the outside world from a clearer perspective. Like the familiar praise song goes,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace

In that moment I heard him saying, “Even here, I Will Be Seen.”

- Brother Andrew