Seeing is Overrated

Seeing is Overrated
Jan 14, 2013
2 Corinthians 5:7  "For we live by faith, not by sight."

It would be very difficult to go blind, not being able to see for the rest of your life.  Blind people certainly have a disadvantage in life.  Life is more difficult for those without sight.  It is impossible to drive, so going places requires assistance.  Gainful employment is limited to jobs not requiring site (which isn't many).  Most of the amenities in this world are not designed for the unseeing; life requires sight.  Going blind later in life would certainly be a giant obstacle to overcome, after having the luxury of seeing for many years.  It might be easier to be born blind, as the other senses have the opportunity to super develop, in order to overcome the lack of sight.  But either way, it is not something I wish to experience.  I trust my eyes.  I depend on my ability to see; it keeps me independent.

The Lord would say, however, in the spiritual sense, that it would be better not to see with the eyes.  The Christian walk requires faith, not sight.  This is not just a metaphor but a standard for living.  He said that we, as Christians, live by faith.  It wasn't a recommendation, it is a requirement.  Yes, it takes faith to believe in God, but this particular verse wasn't talking about just believing He exists.  It was referring to daily activities and circumstances in life, outside of the Lord's existence.  It was referring to a consideration that all of life's intricacies are not as they appear with the naked eye.  Things are not as they seem.  When the Lord is involved, there is so much more going on than we can understand.  But we get used to our sight; we think we can see clearly and therefore understand what is going on.  We trust in  what our eyes tell us about the situation.

It is dangerous to try and rationalize what is going on based upon how we see things.  We don't see what the Lord sees.  We don't know what the Lord knows.  We don't understand what the Lord understands.  This is why it is critical to live by faith instead of by sight.   It requires trusting in the Lord enough to relinquish having an explanation about what we think is going on based upon our perceptions.  It requires saying to the Lord, "I don't know what or how, but I trust that you've got the situation under control, even though I cannot see a reason why."  This is particularly difficult because we've been blessed (or cursed) with eyesight.  We are so used to trusting in our eyes that we don't like to depend on the Lord.  We don't need assistance in the route we are traveling; we have our own eyes.  We don't need assistance in our employment; we have our own eyes.  We don't need assistance getting through life; we have our own eyes.

If you are a Christian, then seeing things with our own eyes is a disadvantage.  You undoubtedly have a situation in life where you think you've got it under control because you can see clearly with your eyes.  I would submit to you that is a far greater obstacle to overcome, far more difficult than being born blind.  If you think you can see it clearly with your own eyes, then you are not living by faith and will fail to follow the Lord's plan through it all.  If  you try to figure it out based upon your perceptions of the situation, then you will fail to experience the glory that the Lord wants to do through it all.  We don't have all the answers in life; this is why it is necessarily to live by faith.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Rom 10:17, Rom 16:26, 1 Tim 1:3-5, Heb 11:1, Heb 11:6