Chaplain’s pulpit: Faith enables us to see through difficulties to God who is always there

The first time I used night vision goggles was July 2004 during a field exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Before putting them on, I had my doubts about how much I would be able to see in the pitch black darkness.

Once night fell and I put them on I was amazed at what I could see, even with a new moon and virtually no illumination.

The NVGs enabled me to see what my natural eyes could not. This is how faith works as well. Biblical faith is characterized by believing God and not your natural impressions and apparent circumstances. When God grants us eyes of faith a new world is opened up to us.

The eyes of faith enable us to see the trials of life in a new way. This is a fallen world. Trials will and do occur. Most of our daily trials are minor, but there are times in which the wheels of life fall off.

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is known as the “Hall of Fame of Faith.” The Biblical characters mentioned in this chapter exhibit lives lived with the eyes of faith.

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin,” Hebrews 11:24-25 reads.

Moses stepped into difficulty because he trusted that God was worth it. He trusted that the long-term reward was much greater than the short-term benefits. He trusted that God was both powerful and good enough to see him through all the difficulties of Egypt and the pharaoh. In short, he saw blessed with and used his eyes of faith.

What trial are you enduring now? What difficulty in life is testing you to focus on your current circumstance in such a way that you are not willing to look to the Lord? What misery is tempting you toward anger at him?

Biblical faith draws us beyond the trial to someone greater than the trial.

The eyes of faith enable us to see in the dark. The eyes of faith enable us to see through the difficulties to a God who is there. The eyes of faith enable us to know that God is indeed good. He is so good that he did not spare his son for us.