THE INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE

       As I was driving home from the grocery store a few days ago, I noticed that spring in South Texas was popping out all over.  We don’t have the abundance of bluebonnets and other wildflowers that some parts of Texas do, but my Mom and I used to play a little game as the seasons changed.  In the fall, we raced to identify the first Rain Tree by its coral blossom-like leaves atop the roof lines in our city.  In the spring, chartreuse green mesquite trees usher in the season and we took great delight in sighting the first buds.  It was an exercise from nature in identifying the Invisible made visible.

          Recently this exercise of “invisible made visible” became more real to me when someone felt a prompt from the Lord and gave me a piece of paper with a scripture noted on it and he added the word, “BUILD.”   The notation was from Galatians 5:6,

          “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”  

          

William and I talked about the scripture and he soon asked me a provoking question.

          “Kate, what would that look like…constructing on something that is INVISIBLE?” 

To which I responded,

          “Love is an action verb.  So when acted upon, the invisible becomes visible.” 

          Bill became more curious about the mention of love in Paul’s salutations from the epistles.  We opened our Bibles to see that the apostle’s most common greeting to the churches was “Grace and Peace” along with “Thanksgiving” and acknowledging their “Faith that had been made known to all.”  Not until Colossians 1:4 do we see the word “Love” used in the opening sentences of his letter.  To the Thessalonians in 1:3 he refers to “your work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ in the Presence of our God and Father.”  Obviously they had a love for one another that was visible and could be measured.   After all, it was LABOR, another action verb.

          1Timothy 1:5 helped gain some traction in our conversation.  

“The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”  NASB

          As is our practice, we began to catalogue other invisible things and the list grew.  You may add even more as you read and meditate about this post.  Here goes:

EVIL   WICKEDNESS   SIN

HATE   MALICE   GUILE   FEAR   FOLLY

INTENTIONS   IGNORANCE   IMPATIENCE

MEDIOCRITY   LETHARGY   DIVISION

BITTERNESS   UNFORGIVENESS

ENVY   SLANDER   HYPOCRISY

DOUBT   GLUTTONY

IMMATURITY

PRIDE

FAITH   ENDURANCE   TRUST

HOPE   PEACE   JUSTICE

MERCY   GRACE   RIGHTEOUSNESS

WISDOM   PRUDENCE   HONESTY

PURITY   STEWARDSHIP   DISCERNMENT

REVERENCE   SUBMISSION

REPENTANCE   REDEMPTION

UNITY   SERVANTHOOD   GENEROSITY

BRILLIANCE   GENIUS   TALENT

IDEAS   POTENTIAL

BEAUTY   HARMONY   ROMANCE

ORDERLINESS   DISCIPLINE   TEMPERANCE

ZEAL   COMPASSION   JOY

KINDNESS   GENTLENESS   GOODNESS

DILIGENCE   VIRTUE

INTELLIGENCE   KNOWLEDGE

STEADFASTNESS   GODLINESS

BROTHERLY AFFECTION

CHRISTIAN LOVE

HUMILITY

WORSHIP

ART

          The list goes on but the point is that these all become visible by our adoption and practice of them.  Hate is an invisible thing until a man puts it on display.  God is invisible until He reveals Himself through nature, Jesus or when His Love is displayed through me to others. As the writer of Hebrews says in 5:14, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”   In Billish language this means, 

“AS you practice, WHAT you practice BECOMES your practice.” 

          Paul urges us in 2 Corinthians 4:18 to focus on the unseen (invisible).   In my imperfect human frailty, I must confess that I easily succumb to circumstances, relational offenses and visible evidence but I continually strive to build on the eternally significant things of God.  It takes practice.  Every time, I have seen the Lord’s invisible mercy give me another chance to do it better next time.

          I read a testimony from Rev. Billy Graham when his wife, Ruth, went to be with the Lord.  There was a particular stretch of road that she had traveled regularly.  One time when it was undergoing repairs, she remarked about a sign she saw by the roadside and expressed her desire for its words to be inscribed as her epitaph.  It said,

“END OF CONSTRUCTION.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.”

I think she knew humanity’s war with the Spirit by personal practice.  Now her pilgrim’s monument stands visibly for all to see.  What counts is the invisible living stone of her life, visible and precious in God’s sight.  Now that’s eternal significance. 

"Life is a building. It rises slowly day by day, through the years. Every new lesson we learn lays a block on the edifice which is rising silently within us. Every experience, every touch of another life on ours, every influence that impresses us, every book we read, every conversation we have, every act of our commonest days adds something to the invisible." Unknown

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