Tim McManus: Seeing the Invisible
by Timothy McManus, WDBC Pastoral Intern
Can you see invisible things? Probably not, because if you did, they would be visible to you…
But maybe this week you have noticed that your social life has all but become invisible and your unseen need for connection has suddenly grown. As for many of us, we long to see and have fellowship with our church family again.
Greetings Timothy McManus here, your new and now isolated intern at WDBC.
Life has definitely not gotten a whole lot slower here for me. As Bible College moves into its eighth week, assignments have been coming out of my ears and at church, I have been blessed to be leading a prayer group on Zoom.
I have enjoyed setting up little challenges for everyone in my zoom to do during the week. The last two challenges have been to get up early to pray and to memorise some scripture.
I also have had the privilege of speaking with some you over the phone. I have been encouraged to see how the church is responding to the challenge of isolation.
As we all adjust to living an introvert’s way of life, I can’t help but notice this isolation all but feels a little strange. Even the youth and young adults have noted that zooms and facetime do not fulfil all of our social needs.
Though we might see people on a screen, it’s like we have almost not seen them at all and as the isolation blues set in and our need for connection grows, I want you to know that we don’t need to lose heart, but fix your eyes to the things that are unseen.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Like Paul, we should not lose heart because we will share in Christ’s triumphant resurrection from the dead. Although we all are outwardly wasting away, our inner person is being transformed day by day into the image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18).
According to Paul, our troubles are achieving for us the glory; an eternal glory that will outweigh all sufferings that we are experiencing right now.
Our troubles do not intensify the glory. instead, it is that our troubles cause us to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Our troubles help us to understand that there is no future for us here in this fading existence. Therefore, we focus on the unseen resurrected and glorified Christ.
We fix our eye like Paul to the eternal things that are unseen. Where are your eyes fixed these days?