Things Not Seen

By Larry Frazier

Our lives are full of invisible things that affect us daily—some have more influence on us than others. The technology of today is almost indispensable while spiritual things sometimes receive lesser importance. Ever since the electron was introduced to the world by Joseph Thomson, a British physicist, the invisible atom has taken a position of great prominence. The part of the atomic theory that is more familiar to the average person is electronics. From the time we are born and throughout life, the invisible elements of electronics are all around us. It seems that we are almost totally dependent on what that invisible, powerful electron can do.

Somebody once humorously said, “If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight.” We take technology for granted. We trust it faithfully and without question even though we don’t fully understand it. According to the way we use and accept this mysterious science, we can borrow a verse from the Bible: “We live by faith and not by sight.” Taking some liberty with that verse, we can say that some people live with more faith in the unseen electron than faith in the visible Word of God, the Holy Bible. Like most people, I appreciate today’s technology and use it regularly on computers, cell phones, cars, and all around the house. We must, however, keep in mind that electronics and all the sciences are gifts from God for sustaining our lives.

Invisible things are known by the results they bring about. Like the workings of electronics, some invisible things in life are only known by what they do. The “Fruit of the Spirit” that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. He brings about the invisible qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, and self-control in a person’s life & actions (Galatians 5:22-23). So that we keep the proper mindset about things in our world, the Apostle Paul writes about Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:15-16, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created by Him and for Him.” Jesus says in John 10:10 that He has come so that we may have life to the full.

Kirk Franklin reminds the Children of God that they can sing, “I can do the impossible; I can see the invisible because I got faith, yeah yeah!!” Hebrews 11:1 informs us that faith “…is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”