Seeing the Unseen

 

I read the devotional today in which the author Elizabeth Elliot wrote that she didn’t mind getting old. This is in contradiction to what some people would say who have nothing much to look forward to, and because of that, they frantically and futilely hang on to the past – to youth and all that.

As a realist, I can say that since this is the normal order of things, that is – as a human being, I was born 68 years ago, grew up from childhood to adulthood, and now in my senior years – I can say the same thing – I don’t mind getting old. But I don’t discount the fact that old age entails suffering. I have to admit that my physical body is deteriorating daily. There will come a time of limitations of hearing, seeing, moving, digesting and remembering. Exercise, vitamins, and the maintenance medicines that I am taking are only delaying what will surely happen one day, and eventually I will pass on. And if that is all that I can see, I would be like some people who would crave to have a face-lift or some things that will prevent or at least delay the effects of aging.

However, I have to remember that I am on a journey. At the start, the road is paved and the journey is smooth, but as time goes by, it becomes rough and steep, and it winds uphill to the very end. So I have to lift up my eyes and see the unseen celestial city, a light, a welcome, and an ineffable face. I shall behold Him. And that makes a difference in how I go about aging.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 16-18)

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruits every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” (Revelation 22:1-6)