I am re-reading Bill Johnson’s book “When Heaven Invades Earth” at the moment. It’s a book I read years ago and at the time it terrified me. It felt so out of reach but yet I was attracted by it so much. I am loving this chance to read it again with a better understanding and a deeper hunger for God. I’m also reading it on Kindle this time which is by far my favourite way to read.

I’m currently reading chapter 4 when Bill specifically addresses faith and it is rocking me. I’ve taught on faith many times but there is so much gold in hear that I am learning much.

Bill makes a short but profund statement at the beginning of one of the sections in the chapter where he says

The invisible realm is superior to the natural (visible)

That has caused me to ask many questions of myself. Questions like;

Is that true? I’ve concluded yes!

Is that true in our lives? I’d sadly have to say no.

In the western world we are brought up to believe in the visible. We trust gravity, solidity, science, the things we can touch and feel, smell and see. We trust them, because they give us no option not to. No one disbelieves in the existence of tables. Why? Because we have all seen, felt and ate at a table. Because of our deep belief in the visible we have a natural suspicion of the invisible. Anything that we can’t feel, smell or see seems suspicious to us. Even those of us who follow Jesus are often asking Him (not directly) to show himself by a visible demonstration. We live the opposite of the quote; we believe that the visible realm is superior to the supernatural. I’ll goes on to say this

Unbelief is anchored in what is visible or reasonable apart from God.

Or if that quote wasn’t sore enough to read, he says later

Unbelief is actually faith in something other than God.

What would our relationship and our lives in Christ look like if we weren’t constantly in search of proof and the desire for God to make it visible to us. What if we were content in the invisible and trusted Him there regardless? It’s not wrong to want to see God reveal himself but if we are asking that from a place of basing our faith then we are simply asking the invisible God to make Himself visible so that we can have faith in Him. That is not faith.