Beyond What Our Eyes Can See

“Help me let you go; Help me give up control of the God I’ve made you when my fear has contained you*”
 
Fear is a tricky thing. It can consume you. Shake you. It can keep you from good things and send you into the bad things you were running from in the first place.

Much of the time, our fears stem from pain we experienced at some point in our lives. That pain may have led to the fear you may have of being unloved. Or the fear of being worthless. Or being harmed or controlled by others. Or even the fear of being without direction.
 
One of the lines I love from the song above is, “You are not the God my pain has perceived. You are deeper and stronger than my eyes have seen.”
 
Because of our humanness, we often stop seeking God beyond what our eyes can see. But there is a lot of God we don’t see. We don’t see the fighting He does on behalf of us, the running after us, the way He protects us from things we will never know, the way He leads us to rest, the way He provides.

When we don’t fight for the truth of who God is, we end up with a fragmented version of Him. We miss the picture of perfect love that He is. It is perfect love that casts out fear, so an imperfect view of God leaves a lot of room for fear.
 
I’m reminded of the story of the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. The third servant received one bag of gold to steward. Because of fear, he hid the bag in the ground and said to the master, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.”
 
The servant was so bound up by the way he thought the master would respond if he lost the money that he was paralyzed. Based upon the master’s interactions where he told the other servants to come and share his happiness, I don’t think the master was the way the servant perceived.

Whether the servant’s own life experiences or maybe even the fact he was only given one bag of gold shaped the way he was viewing the master, it kept the servant from abundance.
 
How often do we let our fears shape the way we see God? Our faulty perceptions of God keep us from being faithful with what He has given us. I mean... why would I give my gifts, money, talents, or love away if I didn’t believe God would fill me back up? Or give back what I gave away? 
It would be easy for me to use the pain of my life as an excuse to hoard my love. To keep my money for myself. To not give anyone what I have. But when we hide what we have to “protect” it, nobody benefits. We miss out on life abundant and others miss out on the gifts God gave us to share.

We also miss out on the double portion God gives when we are faithful. The first two servants received a double portion because they invested in what the master gave them. Isaiah 61:7 says:

"Instead of your shame
 you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace
 you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours."
 
God is so good that he trades even our shame and disgrace for a double portion and everlasting joy. He trades the parts of us we don’t even want for something good. What a beautiful picture of God’s love.

You can trust God with what he has given you. When he asks you to give something away, trust that he is going to give you something even better. Let his kindness lead you into deeper faithfulness.

*Song: Let You Go by Will Reagan & United Pursuit.
 
Author | Makinizi Hoover