So much of our lives are spent trying to obtain and grasping at what we can see. What we can touch with these hands. What seems within our reach. Somehow this seems safe and we feel in control. God seems to have a different view on what we really need to get our hands on. Jesus explains it like this as one of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, comes to Him by night wrestling with some of his own grasping with things in this life; ” This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ” Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, ” Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, ” How can a man be born when he is old?” Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, ” Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ” That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ” Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:2-8 (NKJV)
Do you notice how Jesus has a totally different perspective on what is real than Nicodemus? What I love is that even though Jesus knows all things and all the questions and longings of this curious man as he seeks to understand greater things-invisible things, is that Jesus welcomes him into His world. Into reality. Into the unseen. I absolutely love that about our God! Jesus not only expounds in this passage and later on in the chapter( I recommend reading further!),on how one comes into God’s kingdom, but also gives us some insight on how to live out this Christian walk. This invisible journey. By faith. By turning our eyes away from what can be seen and felt and touched. Away from the tangible. None of those are bad and many things we do see in the natural are beautiful gifts from God to be enjoyed by all our senses. But when it comes to what God is desiring to do in our lives this is where we deal with the invisible. The unseen.
We as humans have such a desire to know exactly what is happening all the time. We also want to know why it is happening. Can you relate? I know I can. As I lie in bed last night unable to sleep my mind wandered off into, ” What is going on in my life right now?” and ” What is God longing to do in it all?” You see I have a book that is about to be released next month where I very openly share how God used some physical challenges that I was experiencing to radically change my life. I share how He restored by feet and my life. About a month ago I strained a muscle in my ankle hiking with my daughter. Really? More feet problems now? Like right as I am getting ready to tell the whole world my story? Could I have not messed up my arm or something not related to my feet? Ugh! I have spent time in this flesh trying to grasp at things that seem beyond my understanding. Trying to obtain something that makes sense. Yes, my ankle is healing ( not as fast as I would like) but at times I want more than that. I would like to know exactly why this is happening and what I can get my hands around to make me feel a bit more in control. Can you relate?
Jesus seems to be responding to me as He did to Nicodemus. He is reminding me ( as I have so extensively written about in my book), that the things that He is up to cannot be seen or obtained in the natural. That there is so much more that He is able to do in us and through us when we allow the wind of His Spirit to take us where He is. He reminded me last night that instead of grasping for what I can see and feel and wrap my brain around that He wants me to grasp the invisible. What His Holy Spirit is up to. God is giving me yet even more compassion for the sick and suffering, reminding me that He is my Healer, letting go more and more of what others think of me, and a whole host of beautiful things is what He is up to through my circumstances. He did not cause it. Ankles roll. I think my feet needed a bit more strengthening from all I went through in the past. That is it. Is He working in it all? Yes. Does He long to work in what you are facing today? Yes. Will we follow the words of Jesus when He describes what our lives will look like if we follow Him? It will look like us grasping for the invisible. Love. Peace. Joy. Freedom. Healing. Him. Like the natural wind which we cannot see or hold onto so are the things that make up His kingdom. As the wind blows we see the effects of the wind. Today let us find ourselves caught up in the wind of His Spirit. Letting Him speak and lead and do whatever He is desiring to do in us. With our circumstances. Then as we turn around we will see the effects of this wind. Beauty, wholeness, and a heart that beats to bow to this Beautiful Son of God. These are the attributes He wants us to grasp. This is grasping the invisible.