Invisibility

Science fiction has toyed with invisibility. I’m no science fiction nut, but I’m a fanatic for the invisible.

Star-Trek had the cloaking device. H.G. Wells made the Invisible Man. Nature has camouflage, and the military has radar-evasion.

The Invisible Man

Christianity has prayer. We pray not for things that can already be seen. Things that can’t even be conceived by the human brain. Wow!

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope. — Rom. 8:24 NIV. What’s important is to notice that hope is the motor of prayer. What Romans says is that we cannot see the answer. But we can know that God will respond.

We cannot plan for His response. We cannot conceptualize it. We cannot see it even in our mind’s eye. If you’re desperate today because you can see NOTHING on the horizon to meet your need, then that’s where faith kicks in. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Don’t waver, keep trusting, keep praying. God’s got an invisible answer that he will bring into visibility.

If I can see it, it’s not faith. If it’s invisible to me, then it is what God will do. To be a Christian, you must have hope

You’re not disqualified

Intriguingly, Jesus employs racism to make a point. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast [it] unto the dogs. — Mark 7:27 KJV.

He addresses a Syrophenician who requests freedom and healing for her demon-possessed daughter. A lot of people miss the subtleties of the Bible. When Jesus offered living water to the Samaritan woman (John 4), at least she was half Jewish. But the Syrophenician is completely gentile, utterly excluded from the kingdom of God (under the old scheme of things). The Jews called them “dogs,” and Jesus testing her faith employs the same ugly, unacceptable term.

In other words, He says, “Don’t you know you’re supposedly disqualified from a miracle?” Whether it was hyper optimism or simply desperation, this lady would not be discouraged and the word “disqualified” was not in her lexicon.

Ok, she says, I don’t care if you insult me. Call me a dog, but even the dogs get crumbs from the table. Jesus’ subsequent reaction dispels the notion He’s a racist: “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” — Mark 7:29 KJV.29

It’s necessary to understand you’re not disqualified from receiving a miracle. That is faith. When you pray, banish from your mind that you are disqualified from receiving a miracle. A lot of preachers try to put requirements on a miracle. They’re trying to explain why some people don’t receive a miracle. I say, Let’s get rid of the requirements and bolster people’s faith.