“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  -2 Corinthians 4:18

Driving on a country road at night is a lot different than driving on the interstate in a city.  There are no streetlights, no lighted billboards and not a lot of passing traffic.  Often, you can be the only car around for miles.  Your headlights being the only source of light.  But even though they only shine about 150 feet in front of your car, two things remain true:

1.  You expect the road to be there beyond that.
2.  You believe the road keeps going beyond that.

So if we can only truly see the road for a short distance past our bumper, how can we believe it will keep going and expect it to be there as we travel along at 55 mph?

Faith.

We have faith that the construction workers and road crews that built the roads did their jobs and fulfilled their promises to provide a safe and accessible road.  We believe that they did this, so we expect the road to be there.

However, even though we are willing to bravely travel on a darkened road, we often have trouble applying this same concept to other parts of our lives.  Belief in God and Jesus Christ is based completely on faith in the first place.  But Christians still can have trouble having that same faith when it comes to their fears or desires.

The “worldly” perspective tells us to believe something when we see it.  However, the Bible tells us something much different.

“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:1 tells us not only to believe in things that are not seen, but to hope for them and be convicted of them.  This can be a difficult way of life to grasp.  But it will be necessary at some point if you want to truly surrender your life to God.

In my own experience, I have hoped for many things that have come to pass – job opportunities, relationships and financial blessings.  But I didn’t stop at just hoping.  If they were things that I truly felt convicted on from God, than I also expected them to come to pass.  And they did.

It’s okay to expect things from God.  As long as they are in accordance with His will.  You can’t just expect things from Him because you want them.  But if you feel the Holy Spirit guiding you towards something like a particular job or a relationship with a particular person, go ahead…

Hope for it.
Believe it.
Expect it.

You will know if you are on the right track by the confirmation and peace that God will put in your heart.

You don’t always have to see something for it to be true.  Believe in the things you can’t see yet.  Expect God’s blessings before they even arrive in your life.

For when the time is right, He will shine His light brightly and the truth will be revealed.