When you wake up in the morning can you see the time on the clock beside your bed or do you need to put on your glasses first? As you rise and move into your day, what do you see? Do you notice your overflowing laundry and your briefcase full of projects? What else do you see?

It comes so naturally to fix our eyes on what is seen that we miss what is unseen.I was thinking about this as I watched the news reports concerning the aftermathof Hurricane Katrina as it ravished the southeast. What was seen on the televisionwere the horror of the storm’s devastation and the extreme depravity ofmankind in response to the disaster. I knew there was more going on in that crisisthan the news reporters had discovered. I knew there were people reaching outto one another, making personal sacrifices to give aid. It took a week for thenews reporters to find those folks, but now the heroes and Good Samaritans arebeing publicized. We need to keep in mind that what we can see is not all thatcan be seen.

2 Corinthians 4:18 says: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on whatis unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Itis so instinctive for us to fix our eyes on what is seen. Most of us fix oureyes on what we see in our family and friends; maybe we don't like what we seeand we feel hopeless. Some of us fix our eyes on what is seen and are quite happywith our lot in life. Either of these responses can cause us to miss out on whatis unseen. Whether we are happy with what we can see going on in our lives ordevastated by it, we need to understand that there is more to what we are seeingthan meets the eye.

God calls us to fix our eyes on what is unseen. He longs for us to see that thisworld and everything in it are temporary except His Word and people. If we getso fixated on what we have in this world—overly focused on our relationshipsbeing what we want them to be, constantly working to having belongings that giveus a sense of status—we will miss out on what is unseen. It’s theunseen that is really crucial on earth.

As long as we get so focused on the puny things of this earth—comparedto the things of heaven—we will never discover what God is really up toby letting us spend the years we are given on earth. We will miss out on knowingtrue intimacy with God Who is unseen. We will get caught up in the smallnessof this world and totally miss the wonders of God.

I'm learning to not trust what I am seeing. What I see is a friend who has totallyturned her back on God. What is unseen is that she is searching deep down fora hope of returning to Him. That is why I need to fix my eyes on what is unseen.I can pray, God, I don't know what you are doing in this girl’s life.It looks to me like she is on a path for her destruction. I don't know how topray for her and see what is really going on in her life, but I want to be opento seeing what you see in her. I want to pray for forgiveness and restorationin her life.

Are you fixing your eyes on the puny things of the earth, while there is moreto see from God’s point of view?