It is so very hard to see “how.” Looming obstacles block our line of sight. We see all kinds of “reasons” why we can’t accomplish something: it’s too hard; it’ll cost too much; I’m too old; I’m too young; or, I’ve never done that before. Obstacles get in the way. And we can’t see how.
Because we don’t see how, we may think the “how” is not there. We need to fix our eyes.
It’s not a new problem. The Israelites of old were blinded by the dazzling power of the Egyptian empire. Four hundred years of slavery kept them from seeing how they could ever be set free. Yet, ten never-before-seen plaques later, they were released.
As they fled, they found themselves trapped, the mighty army behind them and the vast Red Sea blocking the escape before them. They were unarmed and untrained. They could not see how they might escape. However, one never-before-seen parting of the sea, and they were free again.
Listening to the report of the scouts who had returned from Canaan, the Israelites heard confirmation that the land was everything God had promised. It did indeed flow with prosperity. But they couldn’t see how they could take it.
“The people there are powerful,” the scouts protested, “and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak (giants) there” (Numbers 13:28). The size of the cities and the size of the giants blocked the view so that people couldn’t see how they could win. So, they didn’t!
Tiring of their feeble vision, God let them wander aimlessly for 40 years until a new generation with keener sight arose. For this new tribe, the enemy cities were just as large, the inhabitants just as strong. And how could still not be seen. But they went anyway, and Jericho fell to them without resistance.
How? It’s often hard to see.
How could God love somebody like me? How can I ever change? How can this marriage be saved? With so much wrong, how could I possibly find happiness? How can anybody live again after death? How could I make any difference?
Often, may be hard to see how. But it’s always there. We just need to fix our eyes – “fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but what is unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18), trusting that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
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