8/16/25 From Knowing to Seeing

Takeaway: True faith matures when we move beyond secondhand knowledge to a firsthand encounter with the living God.

Opening Prayer (Saturday)

Father, thank You for the gift of rest. As I slow down today, help me to find peace in You. Restore my soul, deepen my faith, and renew my joy in Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reflection

There is a kind of faith that rests safely in the realm of reason. It is where God is discussed, doctrines are memorized, and beliefs are inherited from our parents. This kind of faith isn’t false, but it’s often someone else’s faith we adopt. It comes from sermons we’ve listened to, books we’ve read, or prayers we’ve heard others pray. It’s the faith of hearing; a necessary beginning, but not the destination. Job, a man once known for his righteousness and deep reverence for God, realized that even his prior understanding of God had been incomplete. After enduring intense suffering, and soul-wrenching questions, Job came to a turning point. He declared, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” In this single sentence, Job names the shift from knowing about God to encountering Him. The storms of his life did not destroy his faith; they deepened it.

This movement from knowing to seeing is not simply about acquiring new spiritual information. It is about experiencing God in the raw, unfiltered places of life. Those unfiltered places of doubt, pain, silence and dispair all confront our tidy systems of belief. Job’s journey wasn’t easy. He lost almost everything: his children, his health, his reputation, his sense of fairness in the world. He asked questions but for much of the book, God remained silent. And then, out of the whirlwind, God finally spoke with His presence. What Job received wasn’t a satisfying explanation, but a staggering revelation: “I see the Almighty for the first time.” Job’s eyes were opened, and he encountered God not as a theological idea, but as a living reality.

This kind of encounter often comes when the scaffolding, or support structures, of our beliefs is stripped away. When our lives unravel, and we can no longer rely on secondhand assurances that we have heard, God meets us. It may not look or feel the way we expect. Sometimes we see Him in the kindness of a friend, or in the whisper of scripture during a restless night. Sometimes He is seen most clearly not in the healing of our pain, but in His unwavering presence through it.

Moving from knowing to seeing doesn’t mean abandoning reason or doctrine, it means allowing our beliefs to be washed in experience. It’s the difference between reading about fire and standing near its heat. It’s one thing to affirm that God is faithful; it’s another to cling to Him in the darkness and discover He does not let us go. Faith matures when we stop trying to fully understand God and begin to see Him as He truly is, not as we thought He was supposed to be. That’s what happened to Job. That’s what can happen to us.

So if you find yourself in a season of questions or silence, take heart. You may be closer than ever to the kind of faith that sees. The goal of the Christian journey isn’t just right knowledge, but real encounter. God does not want to be known only from a distance, but experienced intimately and up close. He invites us into a faith that sees, even through tears, the mystery and mercy of the risen, living God.

Questions

In what ways have you relied more on what you’ve heard about God than on what you’ve personally experienced of Him?

What might God be inviting you to see in this current season of your life?

Application

Make intentional space to encounter God beyond words. Sit quietly for ten minutes a day in prayerful stillness, asking not for answers but simply to become aware of His presence. Pay attention to moments when His nearness breaks through, whether in scripture, creation, people, or even your own restlessness.

Closing Prayer

Lord, I confess that I have often settled for a faith of hearing about You when You long for me to see You. Open my eyes to Your presence, even in places of pain or confusion. Strip away what keeps me at a distance, and draw me close into the mystery of who You truly are. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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