Seeing the Invisible

“By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.” Hebrews 11:27 NASB

Although he received little formal scientific education, Anton van Leeuwenhoek demonstrated that he had natural abilities that resulted in unusual insights with profound implications. As a hobby, he developed a device that served to magnify objects as small as a pin up to 300 times (a power that far exceeded that of early microscopes).

Born in Delft, Holland, on this day in 1632, Leeuwenhoek used this device to study the body, and, in 1668, he demonstrated how red corpuscles circulated through the body. Then, in 1674, he gave the first accurate description of red blood corpuscles. Continuing to study the world, he observed pond water and saliva, and discovered what today we know of as protozoa and bacteria.

His discoveries were so radical that many people did not believe him. But Leeuwenhoek, who was a strong Christian, believed that he simply was seeing God’s handiwork. He was seeing things that seemed “invisible,” but which were very visible to God.

Many people fail to experience all of God’s blessings because they reject the things that they cannot see with their naked eyes, and just think about material things and pleasures of the flesh. But the Bible speaks about a realm that seems invisible to our eyes.

God blessed Abraham because he was willing to place his faith in this unseen world. Paul wrote that “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Today, place your faith not in this world’s things, but in the unseen God. On the things of the Spirit. He is with you, right now, ready to give you His wisdom, to share in His riches.

Prayer:Father, thank You that You are with me. Keep me from depending on the things of this world. Help me to walk by faith, and not by sight. Reveal Your wisdom to me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.