“…he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”— Heb. 11:27
Moses was a remarkable man. However, the only thing that made him anything more than ordinary was God. As with anyone, everything great about him can only be attributed to the greatness of God, and he knew it. Unlike some folks, Moses was well aware of his weaknesses. But he was unaware of his possibilities. It was only after he met God at the burning bush on the backside of the desert (Ex. 3) that things began to change.
Faced with failure he requested to see God (Ex. 33:12-18) and was given a glimpse of God’s glory. His problem was just like that of many— rather than live by faith they want to see something. Although given a glimpse of glory, God made it clear that Moses could not see Him and live. As we think of all the great accomplishments of Moses we can sum it all up by saying that his success was due to his awareness that God was invisibly involved in his life.
Such is the case with all the heroes of the faith. No Christian succeeds on his own. As Jesus said, “…without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). There is only one thing that makes us successful, and Paul spoke of it in Phil. 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. Although we cannot see Him, God is at work in our lives. Therefore Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). That was the message he wanted to convey to the Philippians ( Phil. 1:6). He said basically the same thing to the Thessalonians–“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it“(1 Thess. 5:24). And that’s what I want you to see.
When it seems that everything is against you, you need to understand that God is working behind the scenes. That is just as true of you as it was with Joseph, Moses, and Daniel. God is invisibly involved in every detail of your life. He is involved in the ordinary, mundane, boring, tiring things of your life. You don’t need dreams, visions, and miracles. Whether you see Him in action or not, He is at work. As Spurgeon said, “When you can’t see His hand–trust His heart”. God is at work whether you are aware of it or not, but living in the awareness of that fact makes all the difference in the world. It is by this that we are enabled to succeed (Heb. 12:1-3; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:18). The song writer was right when he said,”There is an unseen hand”. Keep that fact in mind every moment of every day and it will get you through the day–whatever it holds!
In 1867, Walter Chalmers Smith wrote this first verse to a hymn:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious,
The Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious—
Thy great name we praise.
