THE UNSEEN REALITY
“Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.” (Exodus 23:25,26)
These words are a part of the discourse God gave Moses to pass on to the Israelites. A striking connection is drawn here between worshipping the unseen God and its effect on the visible day-to-day reality affecting us.
Not only is there an unseen reality, but also this reality is the basis for the entire visible world around us.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
In Genesis, we see how God spoke the visible world into existence. It is hard to conceive with our limited minds how that is possible, because we are used to seeing a physical cause for every physical effect we see. But we also recognize the unseen causes behind physical events around us. The love and fondness that a king had for his deceased queen was the inspiration for the beautiful Taj Mahal. The former is invisible but the edifice that was borne out of love is visible. It follows that all physical events have a basis or a foundation in the invisible reality that we are immersed in.
This invisible reality is not an impersonal force as New Age philosophers would have us believe. These philosophers erroneously conclude that phrases in the Bible like, ‘the kingdom of God is within you’, ‘God within you’ etc. all reflect an impersonal God permeating through all of creation and our consciousness. Deepak Chopra goes on to state that ‘God’ is a concept created by our consciousness and that the future of God is dependent on what we want god to be. Not only is that erroneous but outright dangerous. The world can only hope that we don’t end up defining God the way Hitler or Stalin did! Chopra would do well to understand the good news outlined in the Bible- the invisible reality is hardly impersonal, but a reality that is created by and flows out of a personal God, exemplified in the nature of the man- Jesus Christ, who was the fullness of deity in bodily form.
It is not by deduction of visible events, but by faith that we understand this fact. Faith is being certain of what we do not see. While God and the invisible foundational reality are not readily visible, they can be perceived in our experience. So faith is not a leap into the unknown darkness, but the most logical deduction a finite man can make as he attempts to make sense of the infinite elements permeating through this physical world. And as he embarks on a journey of faith, he moves from recognizing the unseen to truly experiencing it to the fullest. He moves from sensing the unknown God to making all things in his life an outworking of his connection to and love for the personal God who reigns over all creation.
So can your food and water be blessed (more fulfilling and enriching) because you worship God? Will sickness depart and full life come your way because you love the Lord? A resounding yes, because you know and appreciate the unseen personal reality who reigns over all.
