Living by the Seen or the Unseen?

An Encouragement for Relating to the Circumstances of Life

by Maranatha Chapman

 

Do you know that we do not have to let our circumstances in this life dictate how we feel or what we choose because we can actually live from somewhere else? I ask again, do you know that we do not have to let our circumstances in this life dictate how we feel or what we choose because we can actually live from somewhere else? If we are born of the Spirit of God then we are not of this world! Hallelujah! Do we know this reality. and walk in it? Is our true home, our abiding place, nestled up deep into His Spirit and heart?

We all have difficulties in our daily life. For example, you are trying to get dinner on the table at a certain time and your three-year-old decides he is going to pitch a fit because he cannot get his toy car to go. As you are walking over to deal with him, you notice that your baby girl had a poop explosion and it is oozing out of her diaper, and at the same time the phone rings, one of your older children is calling you from outside, and you now smell something burning on the stove. You know the territory-we've all been there, and we will be there many more times before our race is finished in this life. And aside from such "normal" difficulties in our daily life, many of us have trials that are ongoing in nature, and weightier. Things like physical pain, sickness, financial difficulties, family problems, and perhaps even persecution.

Sisters, part of the good news of the kingdom of God is that no matter what our trials are, we can, in our heart, abide in another place that is far from this earth. It is a place in the Spirit of God that is beyond what we see with our human eyes and feel in our physical bodies and emotions. You find a wonderful description of this place in Him in Psalm 91. It describes people like us who definitely have difficult circumstances and trials in this life-folks out to snare them, sickness and disease stalking, terror, accusations, destruction, temptation to do evil or be overcome by evil, demonic attack, troubles, desperate need for deliverance-and yet the Lord promises to faithfully be with them, care for them, and see them through all these trials and hardships. But He does not do this for everyone. These promises are for those "who dwell in the secret place of the Most High" and "abide in the shadow (presence) of the Almighty;" for those who "have made the Lord. even the Most High, [their] dwelling place" (Ps. 91:1, 9). In the same way, the promise in the opening scripture of "momentary light affliction producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison" is only fulfilled "while" we do something: "while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."

The more I taste of this reality and learn to live and walk in it, the more I am comforted in knowing that I do not have to be moved or shaken inside, even when times and circumstances are hard, nor do I have to become anxious or faint of heart, because nothing "down here" affects this place in Him in which I can dwell. He and His kingdom are "unshakeable" (Heb. 12:22-29), and so are we when we are abiding in Him.

Now in reading this, does it seem impossible or do you feel like you have just encountered a new standard that you cannot live up to? I have no intention of putting a heavy weight on you but rather to communicate part of the "easy yoke" and "light load" we have in walking with Jesus (Matt. 11:28-30). My desire is for us to be freed from allowing our hearts to be pulled down by the world and governed by the circumstances of this life. We can become so deceived in this area and stray off into trying to take comfort or find peace in external things instead of finding our comfort, peace, and security in the Lord alone. What are some examples of an external thing we can look to in order to settle our heart? It could be a certain response from someone, a day with minimal "bumps," shopping, eating, a guarantee of some sort from our husband, or anticipation of a fun day approaching, etc. The Lord has called us to live another way in another place, and He laid down His life to become the way for us to be able to do so. This isn't an impossible, unattainable dream.

I would like to share with you about a man I know that is the greatest living example of someone who daily abides "in the secret place of the Most High" that I know of. Even in the midst of tremendous pain and suffering, he faithfully keeps his eyes fixed on those "unseen" and "eternal" things of the Lord Jesus and His kingdom, like no one I have ever seen before. He is not a hero from the scriptures or a martyr I have read about. The one I am referring to is my faithful, sweet father, Stan Owen.

My dad had polio when he was three years old and, as a result, has had a life full of chronic pain and nervous system problems. When I was eight years old, he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and given no more than seven years to live. The doctors said he would live in a wheelchair and be bedridden within a year. And this news came right as he began having to raise his four small children, ages five to nine, by himself.

Needless to say, he felt incredibly helpless. At the time when my siblings and I needed him the most, he was laid up in weakness, pain, and without hope of his health improving. He cried out to the Lord night and day saying, "Lord, what about my children?" And then one day he sensed the Lord speak to him his heart, telling him to get up out of bed, ignore the doctors' orders, and go on with his life, and my father obeyed in faith. It wasn't that the Lord healed him that day, but rather that He showed my dad in a very real and personal way that His grace would indeed be sufficient if he would only abide in Him, drawing from His strength and life (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

As of this writing, that day the Lord spoke to him and he got up out of bed was 23 years ago, and my father is still alive and is even still on his feet much of the time. I have never in my life seen him complain, blame anyone, or question the Lord. I have always seen him wholeheartedly worship the Lord and give Him thanks, and the way he serves Him and lays down his life for others really is like a sacrifice that is being poured out and burned up.

When you go to meet people who experience ongoing physical suffering and have endured many of the fieriest and most painful of life's trials, you typically expect to meet folks who are sad and pitiful. But whenever you see my father, there is always the life of Jesus shining forth from his eyes and the love of Jesus displayed in his actions. He is a man who is void of bitterness, discouragement, or a "poor me" victim mentality, and is full of faith in looking ahead at what the Lord has in life. If faith is "the substance [and] the evidence of things NOT seen" (Heb. 11:1), then my father is a man of considerable "substance," for he truly lives in another unseen, eternal place-the kingdom of God . You have no doubt heard the saying, "He's so heavenly-minded that he's no earthly good," but I see in saints like my father who truly live Colossians 3:1-3 that they are used of the Lord for tremendous good in the lives of many during their time on earth because they are consumed with things eternal.

Whenever I feel a little discouraged or overwhelmed, I watch my father who is my dear brother in the Lord, comrade, and friend. I figure that if he can sit in his bed or on his couch all day-most everyday-because of health reasons, all the while studying the scriptures, praying and interceding for God's people and His purposes, worshipping, writing songs, and staying purposed in his heart and faithful, then I can continue in my race too, looking to Jesus, despite my circumstances. I have learned from him time and again that this life is so short and really only one thing matters: sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to His word, giving Him everything, and spending my whole life for Him (Luke 10:38-42).

Are you living to be entertained? Are you living your life based upon the world's idea of fun and enjoyment? Are you easily moved or shaken by your circumstances? Are you frequently on an emotional roller coaster? Our precious Lord Jesus and our home in the Spirit in His kingdom is enough. He alone can satisfy. He Himself is truly all that you need. His life isn't ruled by what we think or feel, or by what our circumstances and trials are. It is not idealistic to live His life, abiding in Him despite difficulties, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All it takes is continually saying yes to Him, yielding your will to His, and always keeping your eyes completely fixed on Him. In this way, you will find yourself living more and more from the unseen, and governed less and less by what is seen in this world.

 

 

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