{"id":14593,"date":"2026-05-04T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=14593"},"modified":"2026-03-30T06:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T11:55:06","slug":"believe-and-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/believe-and-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Believe and See"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cYou must believe before you will see,\u201d the pastor said on a balmy February morning in Naples, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on vacation, we visited his church. As he stepped onto the stage, he prayed for healing over the congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, when you walk out those doors, you may not feel different,\u201d he said, scanning the large auditorium, his hand extended toward the crowd. \u201cYou may have doubts. That\u2019s when you remind yourself\u2014God is still working. Healing will come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I left the service, I felt unsettled. Part of his message bordered on what some call the prosperity gospel\u2014the idea that God primarily wants to make believers materially wealthy and physically healthy. Scripture doesn\u2019t support that. Jesus Himself said we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet\u2026 he did speak truth about healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may not experience complete healing on this side of heaven, but we will experience it when the Lord calls us home and we live in His glory. Healing will come\u2014in God\u2019s timing and in God\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus spoke these words in John 11:40, He stood before Martha, who grieved the loss of her brother, Lazarus. Christ didn\u2019t rebuke her. Instead, He gently reminded her that she could trust Him\u2014even in the middle of loss, before she saw the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus refers to the \u201cglory\u201d visible in the power and work of God. In just a few moments, Martha would witness what she could not yet see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But first\u2014she had to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then she would see the miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lazarus, raised from the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus teaches us something profound in this moment: belief often comes before breakthrough. We don\u2019t believe because we see\u2014we see because we believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And notice this\u2014Jesus didn\u2019t rush Martha past her grief. He met her in it, and then invited her to trust Him anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith grows in moments such as this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, I\u2019m walking through a situation that has left me disappointed and hurt. As I process it, I\u2019m choosing to trust Jesus. I don\u2019t understand why it happened or what purpose it serves\u2014but I trust that God does. And I trust that He will use it for good for those who love Him and place their faith in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I cannot see, the Savior can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha couldn\u2019t imagine Lazarus breathing again. Her humanity couldn\u2019t process it. But God knew\u2014and He invited her to trust Him anyway. And when she did, she witnessed a miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without hard days, we wouldn\u2019t recognize the good ones. Without hardship, we wouldn\u2019t long for miracles. And without belief, we may miss God\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So believe\u2014even before you see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where do I need to believe to see God\u2019s glory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe a time you believed before you saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What miracle do you want to see happen today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Expect God\u2019s glory in small ways today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-minute read. \u201cYou must believe before you will see,\u201d the pastor said on a balmy February morning in Naples, Florida. While on vacation, we visited his church. As he stepped onto the stage, he prayed for healing over the congregation. \u201cNow, when you walk out those doors, you may not feel different,\u201d he said, scanning… Continue reading Believe and See<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14593"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14597,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14593\/revisions\/14597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}