Fix Your Eyes On The Unseen

If you know me, it's no secret that I'm a big fan of the TV show Glee. I hopped on that particular band wagon a little late, but once I was on, there was no getting off until the very end of the ride.

One of the episodes starts off with one of the main characters, Finn, deciding to make a grilled cheese sandwich. When he opens up the grill, he stops. There, in the bread, is "the face of God". He literally sees Jesus in the burn marks of his grilled cheese sandwich. Finn decides to appropriately name it "Grilled Cheesus".

Throughout the rest of the episode, Finn decides that this is a sign from God, and he starts to pray to this sandwich. He doesn't quite understand how it works, though; he thinks it's like a genie and he only gets three "prayers". He prays for relatively pointless things like winning a football game, getting to second base with his girlfriend, and being made quarterback again.

When the third "wish" comes true, however, Finn panics because it didn't work out the way he expected it to. During the next football game, the current quarterback gets injured and is unable to play for a while, making Finn the quarterback once again in his absence. Freaked out, thinking he caused his friend to get hurt, Finn goes to the school counselor and confesses that he's been praying to a grilled cheese sandwich that has special powers. The counselor politely admonishes him, saying, "God works in all kinds of mysterious ways. But I'm pretty sure he doesn't spend a lot of time speaking to us through sandwiches."

Finn feels extremely disappointed and lost. "It was sort of cool," he says, "feeling like I had this direct line to God. Now I just feel like everyone else."

I think we've all been guilty of this. It's hard believing in something we can't see, hear, or feel. Maybe you didn't see Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich and immediately started praying to it, but I'm sure you've had those moments in your life where you're absolutely certain God is speaking to you. And when that happens, you desperately cling to that hope, that channel of communication that has seemingly opened up in front of you. Suddenly, you're special. God is speaking directly to you. How often does that happen? That's why it's so upsetting when that "special connection" is taken away.

As hard as it is, we as Christians just have to trust. We have to have faith that God is listening when we pray to Him. We have to trust that He's always there by our side. He's not going to spend a lot of time showing Himself to us or speaking directly to us. It's our job to just have faith.

"When we view life through the eyes of the heart, we are able to recognize God and understand the limits of temporary experiences. We are not overcome by temptation, we endure hardship, we value souls over material things, we seek purpose over passing pleasures, and we draw close to God Himself."

And the good news? We're not alone. We all struggle with faith; that's kind of part of the package. But we're all struggling together.

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"You've got to believe in something more than you can touch, taste, or see. Life is too hard to go through it alone without something to hold on to; something sacred."