Leaves are not Green

 

“So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on.” – 2 Corinthians 4:18 (VOICE)

Just because we cannot hear the sound of a dog whistle doesn’t mean that it’s not being blown, it’s merely above the range of human hearing. This is similar to the spiritual, in that, some things are out of our range of awareness, or to put it another way, what we are currently aware of is not all there is to be aware of.

In 2 Corinthians 4:18, Apostle Paul is exhorting us to trust in what is and not in what is seen because there’s far more than meets the eye.

We have been raised to place our trust and confidence in only what we can hear or see but that is a fallacy rooted in the world’s system of belief, for the world says that seeing is believing, but our Lord Jesus says, “…better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” (John 20:29 MSG)

When we look up and not see a single star in the night sky, surely does not diminish our belief in the existence of the stars.

Living by only what we can see and acting purely upon the things we hear or overhear, is not the way God wants His children to operate.

From childhood, we have been inculcated with many of the world’s misconceptions, so it is too easy for us to accept illusion as reality, but we must resolve to understand that what we see or think we see may not be a true reflection of what is.

For instance, leaves are not green but appear green because of the light they reflect.

Everything we can see with our eyes is simply a matter of our perception, our perspective, our view and our interpretation of the symbols and signals that we receive; it’s what determines the way we see things, situations and circumstances.

We allow our eyes and our ears to affect our beliefs, and our beliefs contribute to our experiences. If we change what we believe, we can change our circumstances.

“The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7 (VOICE)

The inherent fact of existence lies, not in our own ability to see, but in trust in an omniscient God. Trusting in Him in absolute conviction of faith that recognizes that there are realities that are unseen and unknown.

Beloved, when we can put aside our own reality and give ourselves over to the One who resides beyond this reality, the One who knows (see Psalm 139), only then will we experience the “better blessings” of which Jesus spoke.

Amen†

Shelley Johnson “Leaves are not Green” © 2017 revisited August 17, 2025