“He (Moses) persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27)

If this sentence showed up in an English composition the teacher would discount it for being hopelessly contradictory, yet much understanding of Moses and our own relationship to an invisible God is wrapped in this simple statement by the author of the book of Hebrews. The words were written thousands of years ago, but a newer saint, St. Therese of Lisieux, wrote in the nineteenth century , “Jesus is a hidden treasure, an inestimable good which few souls can find, for it is hidden, and the world loves what sparkles.”

Moses’ life was full of “sparkles”; Therese’s virtually devoid of them, yet both had eyes that “saw the invisible” and both persevered because of what they saw.

Probably the greatest visionary among the apostles was St. Paul, who never saw Jesus before his resurrection, but who experienced Jesus’ Spirit on the road to Damascus, and then for the rest of Paul’s life on earth. Paul wrote, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation, for in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,visible and invisible.

In Jesus the visible and invisible are combined, as he was a visible man while at the same time he is our invisible God. Contradictory as it may seem, and even be, the gateway to our hearts is both visible and invisible, and God has planned it to be so.

Moses’ vision deepened and widened as he held his staff over the Red Sea and watched the waters part, and his people finally escape from Egypt. His vision of God continued to deepen and grow until his death at 120 years old.

Therese’s vision grew as she wrote the story of her soul in pencil while she was struggling with tuberculosis. Her brief life on earth ended at age 24, and today there are cathedrals and churches built in her name on every continent except Antarctica. Mother Therese of Calcutta was her spiritual sister.

Seeing the invisible is a path to perseverance. It’s a path full of life enriching encounters with our Savior God. When we let the sparkling intrusions of the world distract us, it’s like hearing only words and never the music to songs: “In prayer, focusing on the words is like trying to drive while looking at the windshield instead of through it. (Paul Miller)

Love in Him,

Prue