Believing Is Seeing

Two weeks ago my husband surprised me with a lovely trip to Santa Fe, NM for our fourth anniversary. One day, he arranged for us to ride the Southern Santa Fe Railway train to Lamy, NM. Though the sleepy little village is 18 miles from Santa Fe, the train gently chugs along so slowly that the trip is an hour one way. It was perfect timing because though it was April, Santa Fe was in the middle of a snow storm. As we pulled out of the train station, there were big flakes swirling down and sticking to anything they could. Our train car was an enclosed upper deck, so sitting a level above the roof of the train we were able to see everything. Duncan and I snuggled into a cozy seat for two and prepared ourselves for the trip with some hot cocoa and candy bars.

Half way through the trip warmed with cocoa, I was content to sit and gaze at the lovely scenery blanketed in snow. As I looked out the window, where I knew mountains should have been, all I saw were grey snow clouds. It was an unsettling feeling, knowing there were sizable mountains there, but unable to see them because of something as simple as clouds. As I reassured myself the mountains were there even if I couldn’t see them, I realized this is very much our view of God at times. We know in our heart that God is a strong, immovable presence like a mountain, yet there are times that things get in the way, like clouds, or storms in life and the minute we can’t see Him, we get unsettled.

At times, we are content to sit and enjoy the ride not caring that we can’t see Him, knowing no matter what He is there. Other times, we get anxious and uncertain. We find ourselves searching for any glimpse we can get of Him. Hebrews tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Though we cannot see God at all times and many times we cannot see Him working, He is there, and is steadfast at work in our lives and those around us. “The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary.” (Isaiah 40:28) We are reassured that He never gets tired, never gets worn out, and never gives up. He doesn’t take time outs or quick naps, He doesn’t even sleep. He is attentive to watch His sheep and always knows where we are no matter how far we travel.

At one point, though I knew they were there, I asked Duncan, who reassured me that yes, there should be mountains there. Eventually, I realized that I couldn’t spend my entire trip worrying about not being able to see mountains that I knew were there. I simply had to let it go and trust what I knew. This is the same thing we should do when it seems we cannot see the Lord. We should never allow what we don’t know or see to overshadow what we do know about our God, and that is that He will never leave us or forsake us, His word promises that over and over. (Joshua 1:5) We cannot spend our lives debating things we already know the answer to; otherwise we miss the beautiful things the Lord has put before us. He wants us to be along for the ride, no matter what we can or can’t see. It’s the faith of things hoped for, things unseen that God uses to draw us closer to Him, and away from the worries of this world.

Lord, thank you for being my strong mountain that I know is immovable. No matter what clouds my view, I know you are always with me.

M.