For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2Cor 4:17-18
Reality is not our enemy. Jesus lives in reality, and He encourages us to join Him. His Word tells us the truth about our life on earth, which truth can be seen only with eyes of faith. The difficulty with reality is that it is not seen with the physical eye alone. Darkness would have us see with the physical eye alone which results in darkness. Jesus would have us see with His eyes by believing what He says. If we believe what He says then we can see clearly and walk in the victory of faith.
Contrasts
In order to increase our understanding, the Scripture gives us contrasts: affliction with glory, seen with the unseen, temporary with eternal. We are always in danger of seeing only the temporary, of seeing the afflictions, and seeing only the visible. The Lord wants us to see the whole picture; contrasts allow us to effectively see the whole picture. In everybody's life there is a contrast to be apprehended. There is another side to your difficulty, a larger reality. Our lives are not only about problems, but our lives are about the eternal good that is being worked into us and for us.
Context
Related to contrast is context. The context of our life is formed by and found in the unseen. The Lord wants us to see life in the context of the unseen. Our eyes see physical reality, our faith sees the unseen. The Lord never denies the reality of sufferings or the reality of difficulties we may face. But what He does is balance our thinking by showing us the unseen, His Word allows us to see with His eyes. The Lord says the difficulties of our life on earth are preparing us, and achieving for us an everlasting glory that surpasses all comparisons.
Wholeness
If we see only the visible, then we are not seeing as the Lord would have us see. To be spiritually whole we have to see the unseen which is the full reality in which we live.
Isaiah tells the eunuch to not say, I am a dry tree, and he tells the stranger that has joined himself to the people of God to not say, I am separated from my friends and family. Both the eunuch and the stranger see a visible reality, but the Lord tells them there is more than what they see. To the eunuch, the Lord says, in My house you will have an inheritance better than sons and daughters, for your inheritance will last forever and will not perish! To the stranger who joins himself to the Lord, the Lord says, I will bring you into my house and make you joyful, for I will accept your sacrifices and offerings, and you shall be joyful in My house of prayer.
How to see the unseen
We see the unseen through the Word of God. If we see only the visible, then we will not be able to walk with the Lord, for the Scripture says "the just will live by faith". And Hebrews 11:6 tells us "without faith it is impossible to please the Lord". Our challenge is to join the Lord as He leads our life; it is by we believing what He says that we begin to see with His eyes. We do not see Him, or Truth, or Reality, or our own life with physical eyes alone, but with eyes of faith we see clearly, and it is the eyes of faith that will bring us into Eternal Life.
God bless you,
Jim