Do NOT Go By What You See!

Do NOT go by what you see.

If I could sum up God’s directive for this next season we are coming into, it would be that.

As believers, we are, of course, never supposed to go by what we see. But, even though it is a Scripture that we like to quote (“For we walk by faith, not by sight” - 2 Cor. 5:7), it is not how the majority of believers actually live their lives. And, that’s because the world has trained us otherwise.

Everything about our world and the message being fed to us 24/7 is that what we see is what we get. That what we see is all there is. The natural, the facts, the science, “reality.” That’s what life is all about.

Except again, we know from the Word that that’s NOT true. We know we are supposed to keep our eyes fixed on things above and not below (Col. 3:2). But, what does that really look like in our everyday lives?

How do you walk by faith and not by sight? By NOT believing what you see.

And, I mean that in a very literal sense.

If you have heard some of my “crazy faith” testimonies, you know that this is something that God had to teach me through a series of exercises along my journey. He had to wean me out of the natural mindset and move me into a spiritual one.

So, He did things like have me drive with no gas in my car, go cross country when it appeared that I “only” had 83 cents in my account and 15 miles in my gas tank and wait on Him to heal and not go by what I saw with my eyes in the natural.

More times than I can even count He provided things I needed (or even just wanted) without giving me the money to get them. Because again, He was trying to get me to stop focusing on a number in my bank account and realize that He could provide things for me in any way He wants simply because He is Jehovah Jireh!

He’s had me believing Him for several BIG things (that I won’t share now) that completely go against what I see in the natural. In appearance, there seems to be “no way” for them to come to pass. But, all He’s trained me to say in response is, “It doesn’t matter.”

Because if God said it, then it really doesn’t matter.

But, we have to actually BELIEVE that. We have to stop looking first to determine what we believe. But, believe first and then expect to see the results of that belief.

If we say we believe God for something, but then act in a way that contradicts it, then we never really believed Him in the first place. That day in my car, if I said “Okay Lord, I believe you (when He told me to get on the highway and drive for a long distance with what appeared to be no gas) and trust that You won’t let me break down,” but then went and sat in a parking lot somewhere and cried and complained about how I didn’t see His provision showing up (which I had done before I finally learned the lesson!), then I was demonstrating that I actually didn’t believe Him like I said.

One time, when my dog was sick and I was asking Him to heal her, He told me to stop giving her any medications and to not take her to the vet. It was excruciating at the time because it felt like I was doing “nothing.” But, He spoke to me clearly and said, “If you want to see me heal her, then I need you to give Me the space to do so. Otherwise, how will you know if it was the medicine or Me?”

So, I trusted Him and of course, He healed her just like He said He would.

When I had asked (repeatedly) for Him to make a way for me to go to the Grand Opening at Transformation Church in Tulsa, OK in February 2020 and I didn’t see provision “appear” by the morning I would have to leave, He told me if I wanted things to be different, I had to act differently. Instead of waiting to see the provision first before I moved, He wanted me to move and trust that He would meet me. To step in the Jordan and know He would part the waters.

Again, I moved on His word and not only did He not fail, but He blew me away in such a way that I’ve never been the same since.

But, all of these things required me to not go by what I saw (or heard or felt). They required me to abandon all of my senses and CHOOSE to go only by His word. And, when I say His word, I mean both logos (His written word) and rhema (His personal, real-time words to me).

We experience what we believe.

The reason why this is so important is because we experience what we believe. It’s why Jesus told people so often to “just believe.”

To understand what I mean, think about a placebo. A placebo is a pill that has no actual effect on physiological symptoms. But, the person taking it still experiences the benefits of it as if it really did. Simply, because they BELIEVED it was helping them.

If that doesn’t speak to the power of belief, I don’t know what does.

But again, this is where the Lord’s people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Because they don’t realize how important belief is. They don’t realize that is, in fact, what makes the difference in the “reality” that they experience.

And, this is exactly why the Lord is bringing this to light right now.

The devil’s playground

The natural/physical world is the enemy’s playground. He is, after all, the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). So, he wants you to stay focused on what you see at all times. Because then he can manipulate you and hopefully destroy you.

It’s what he did with Eve all the way back at the beginning, when she looked and saw that the fruit was good to eat (Gen. 3:6), she got tempted and fell. He wanted her to go by what she felt and saw instead of what God said.

And, he’s still pulling the same tricks with each one of us today.

He wants us to go by what we feel and what we see instead of what God says.

If you have a physical symptom, he wants you to focus on it and agree with infirmity, illness and even death. Even though the Lord has promised you healing and wholeness (Is. 53:5, Ps. 91). If you “see” lack, he wants you to agree with poverty and stress, even though the Lord is your provider and has promised to meet your every need (Phil. 4:19, Matt. 6:25-33).

He wants you to go by what you see and not what God says. And unfortunately, when we do, we experience the results of that. We end up in fear, worry, stress, illness, confusion and chaos that the Lord never intended for us to experience. But, we’ve fallen for the trick of the enemy because we didn’t realize what was happening.

But again, that’s why the Holy Spirit is bringing this up now. Because never before has it ever been more important for us to not go by what we see.

The works of the enemy that we’ve seen start in the world already is only going to continue to increase. And, you will continue to be told a narrative about what is happening. By the news, by the people around you, by social media.

You will be SEEING famine, poverty, hardship, illness and darkness. And, that is just what the enemy wants you to see. He wants you to agree with it and get swept up in all the fear, confusion and panic.

But, the Lord will be telling another narrative simultaneously. He will be speaking the same things He’s always spoken - provision, protection, blessing, peace, joy. And what we experience will depend on what we believe.

If we believe what the media/false prophet tells us to believe and what we see with our eyes, we will be deceived. We will get swept away by the storm.

But, if we stand firm on God’s words, we will not be shaken. We will not be moved. And, we will shine in the midst of the darkness! We will experience the blessings of the Lord, though thousands may be falling at our side (Ps. 91:7). And, the line will clearly be drawn as He delivers His people and separates them from the world.

“I will make a distinction between my people and your people.” -Exod. 8:23

Not to desert them or forsake them. But, to shake them, to wake them up and show them where they stand.

To show them the light that is available to them in the darkness. And, to light the way back to Him.

But, it will again, all come down to belief.

When the Israelites stood before the Red Sea, it made no sense in the natural. According to physical “laws,” there was “no way” through the massive body of water. It appeared to their natural eyes that they were trapped, with the water ahead of them and Pharoah’s troops behind them.

But, that didn’t stop God. He made a way where there was no way and delivered them.

When David stood before Goliath, it made no sense how a small boy could possibly defeat a giant. But, that didn’t matter. God gave him the victory.

When Jesus asked the disciples to feed the thousands with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, it made no sense to their logical thinking. In fact, they told Him as much. But, Jesus just said, “feed them.” Because He wasn’t governed by natural laws. He lived outside of them, with a Kingdom mindset.

And, it is time for His people to do the same.

If you want to see even greater things than Jesus did. If you want to experience the miraculous power and blessings of God, you have to believe. Like God said to me that morning - if you want to experience different, you have to start acting different.

Start acting like you believe Him.

Start putting His word above what you see or feel.

And, start speaking truth to the lies the enemy puts in front of your eyes.

God is faithful. He is sovereign. And His words are true. You can stand on them. And, they are the ONLY thing you will be able to stand on in these coming days.

If you’re struggling with unbelief, ask Him to help you believe. You don’t have to do it in your own strength (in fact, you can’t). But, you do have to choose to do so.

Decide to believe God. Decide to believe Him over what you see and to think higher and not lower.

He will give you the strength.

So, trust Him.

Ask Him.

And believe Him.