Seeing is not believing 

In our age of evidence, we are constantly told that seeing is believing. We live in a world shaped by empiricism, where truth is supposedly verified only by sight, proof, and data. But the gospel turns this worldly wisdom on its head. The Word of God declares, not once but many times, that true faith is not born of sight—it is born of the Spirit. What we see with our eyes can deceive, but what is revealed by the Spirit leads to life.

Jesus Himself declared to Thomas, after the resurrection: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). This is not a rebuke merely of doubt but a call to a deeper kind of seeing—what Paul calls the “eyes of the heart” (Ephesians 1:18). Physical sight is limited. It looks at appearances. But faith gazes upon the unseen realities that are eternal. The apostle Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). This is the essence of the Christian life.

Faith is not the absence of evidence; it is the presence of confidence in God’s Word. When we reduce belief to what we can physically verify, we strip the gospel of its power. Consider Abraham, the father of faith. He believed God even when there was nothing to see-no child, no heir, no visible proof that God's promise would come to pass. Paul writes, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed...” (Romans 4:18). This was not blindness, but boldness—trusting in the character of God over the clarity of circumstances.

Jesus Christ came into the world not merely to be seen with physical eyes, but to be known, treasured, and trusted. There were thousands who saw Him—watched His miracles, heard His teaching—but did not believe. The Pharisees saw more than most, yet their hearts were hardened. Why? Because sight alone does not save. Faith does.

The natural man demands signs and wonders, always waiting for more proof. But the regenerated heart delights in the sufficiency of God’s Word. As Peter says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him…” (1 Peter 1:8). This is the paradox of Christian faith: the most real things are those we cannot see with our eyes, but we know deep within because the Spirit bears witness.

To believe without seeing is not a lesser faith—it is the faith that pleases God. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). This is not a leap into the dark but a stepping forward into light that the eyes of the world cannot perceive.

Faith sees through the fog of circumstance, through the veil of the temporal. It looks beyond the grave and sees resurrection. It looks beyond suffering and sees glory. It looks beyond the seen and believes in the promise. This is the kind of faith that pleases our Lord. Not the kind that waits for visible signs but the kind that clings to invisible certainties.

We must ask ourselves—are we trusting God only when we can trace His hand, or are we willing to trust Him when we cannot see at all? The psalmist says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). He believed before he saw.

This is the call of discipleship: to trust in the Lord with all our heart, and not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). In a world that exalts sight, Christians are called to live by faith—faith that sees Christ as more real than all the passing shadows of this world. And one day, this faith will give way to sight. But until then, we believe, and we are blessed.