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How to Unveil the Unseen and Expose What’s Hidden in Plain Sight
A spark of suspicion ignited as I listened to our dinner guest and watched him fiddle with his beard. That familiar gesture was unmistakable. I’d seen my husband do that same thing countless times. My heart raced as I tried to remember the last time I saw him with a beard, the one he’d sported for six years. I turned to look at him and discovered his beardless face staring back at me with a mischievous grin. My breath caught as I saw with fresh eyes what had hidden in plain sight.
After everyone left, I looked at my husband. “How long?”
“Eleven days.”
So much for my keen powers of observation. I exhibited a phenomenon psychologists call inattentional blindness. Most of the time, we see what we expect and ignore what we don’t. I expected a bearded husband.
My failure to see the obvious made me wonder how much of God’s work I miss. Lee Strobel’s new book, Seeing the Supernatural: Investigating Angels, Demons, Mystical Dreams, Near-Death Encounters, and Other Mysteries of the Unseen World, answered some of my questions. In his typical investigative journalist style, Strobel unveiled the unseen by interviewing experts and examining evidence for miraculous healings, mystical visions, and near-death experiences.
Old Testament scholar Michael Heiser, author of The Unseen Realm, said, “The Bible asks us to believe a lot of strange things about the spiritual world…. At first, we might be tempted to ignore them, but if we say we believe the Bible, we can’t avoid these concepts.”
BARBARA’S MIRACLE
Strobel cites the healing of a woman diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic with progressive multiple sclerosis. By 1981, Barbara had been in severe decline for sixteen years and unable to walk for seven. At last, she entered hospice care in her home, blind and with her body twisted into a fetal position. She required continuous oxygen, and doctors predicted she had less than six months to live. Barbara wasn’t dead yet, but like the bleeding woman, her situation looked hopeless.
Someone called the Moody Bible Institute radio station, told Barbara’s story, and requested prayer for her. In response, four hundred and fifty believers wrote to her church, promising to pray.
On Pentecost, 1981, Barbara’s aunt and a couple of girlfriends visited and read a few of the letters aloud. During a break in the conversation, Barbara heard a man’s voice behind her. “My child, get up and walk.” She believed her healing was imminent and wanted her family to witness the miracle, so she asked her friends to call them. As soon as her parents entered the room, Barbara jumped out of bed and stripped off her oxygen. With her vision restored and breathing on her own, she stood on legs that hadn’t supported her for years. Her mother dropped to her knees, marveling at the muscles in Barbara’s legs. Then her father waltzed his daughter around the family room. God unveiled his unseen power for all to see.
The next day, Barbara returned to her doctor’s office. After various tests, he rejoiced with her. “This is medically impossible. But you are now free to go out and live your life.” Barbara married a minister and dedicated her life to serving others. When Strobel published his book (2025), she had lived thirty-five years without a recurrence of her illness.
UNVEILING THE UNSEEN
John the Baptist asked Jesus whether he was the one to come or they should look for another. Jesus answered not with logical proofs but with demonstrations of his miraculous power to heal the sick and cast out demons. He later accused his disciples of having eyes that failed to see and ears that failed to hear (Mark 8:18). I don’t want to fall into the same trap. The evidence of God’s supernatural work surrounds us. If we’re going to unveil the unseen, we must:
- Continue to grow our relationship with God through prayer and Bible study. The more attention we pay to God, the more aware we become of his presence and power.
- Contemplate signs of God’s involvement in our lives. When we stop to consider, most of us can think of times God intervened or directed our steps.
- Cultivate a mindset of faith and expectation. God’s arm is not shortened, nor his power diminished. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Strobel fills his book with qualitative research, anecdotes, and wide-ranging interviews with pastors, philosophers, and neuroscientists. His conclusion? God is still in the miracle business, intervening in our world. I encourage you to read Seeing the Supernatural for a peek into the unseen realm.
In a national survey, thirty-eight percent of Americans reported they had experienced a miracle of God. Many people—both Christian and non-Christian—believe God has spoken to them. What about you? What evidence have you seen of God’s amazing grace hidden in plain sight? Please share your stories in the comments below. You’ll bless all of us.
How to Unveil the Unseen and Expose What’s Hidden in Plain Sight by @NancyLucenay on Beyond the Front Door Share on X -
How to Increase Our Chances of Making Wise Choices
Genesis 3
My jaw dropped and blood pressure rose as I watched the man spout lies about my husband at the live-streamed meeting. I don’t know whether I would have made a wise choice if I’d been there. However, I was a thousand miles away and couldn’t surrender to the temptation to respond. But when I returned…
God’s grace prevented my quick retaliation. My mind knew his command to forgive, but my heart resisted. The tempest within raged as my husband and I drove home. I could either obey God or follow my feelings. Adam and Eve fought the same battle. What might I learn from them?
The Struggle to Make Wise Choices Started Early
Although Eve didn’t hear God’s warning not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, Adam passed along the message. She never imagined questioning God’s words before the serpent approached her and Adam. Perhaps Eve wanted to defend her Creator when she detected the serpent’s doubt about God’s goodness and generosity. Maybe she heightened God’s warning to emphasize the danger. Or she might have conveyed the unspoken insinuation in Adam’s voice, expecting him to correct her if she’d exaggerated. Yet he said nothing.
The serpent suggested Adam and Eve needn’t worry about immediate death. Instead, they should question God’s prohibition and consider the benefits of eating from the forbidden tree. They could become like God. As Eve turned to examine the tree, the wise choice seemed obvious. The fruit looked delicious and attractive and promised wisdom. What could go wrong? So, she and Adam ate some.
Unintended Consequences
Like us, our first parents didn’t know what they didn’t know. They presumed they possessed enough wisdom to make an informed decision and would gain their heart’s desire without upsetting the status quo.
Scripture encourages the pursuit of wisdom. So why did God forbid Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Perhaps he intended for them to eat from it after they matured. Instead, they were like five-year-olds trying to drive a car when they could neither see over the steering wheel nor reach the pedals.
Though the serpent lured them with the promise of a shortcut, acquiring wisdom requires time. Adam and Eve’s decision to defy their Creator’s authority—to make themselves gods—led them down a path of disobedience, resulting in unimagined repercussions.
While one bite cannot impart wisdom, one decision can change a life. When Adam and Eve replaced God as their boss, they chose new kings (themselves) and a new kingdom (outside God’s rule). They used their God-given free will to declare their independence from him. Self-rule, however, meant exile from the garden and enslavement to their desires. With their relationship with God shattered and access to the Tree of Life removed, they discovered shame and lost immortality.
Though he knew Adam and Eve’s rejection would come, God grieved the broken relationship. Nevertheless, he pursued them, longing to reconnect and prepare them for their new reality. Their need for food, abundant in the garden, would require hard labor. Parenthood would include the possibility of death for both mother and baby. Life changed forever.
How Can We Make Wise Choices?
Since our decisions affect our lives now and in the future, how can we make wiser, more God-honoring choices?
- Call on God’s wisdom and grace. Adam and Eve trusted their decision-making abilities over God’s.
- If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (James 1:5 NIV).
- As I battled my feelings, I knew God’s commands but also knew I couldn’t obey without his grace and strength. Prayer and time in the Word opened the door for God to strengthen my weak will through the work of his Spirit.
- Count both the short and long-term costs. Adam and Eve considered only what they might gain, not what they would lose.
- Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life(Galatians 6:7-8 NIV).
- Acting on my anger might bring immediate relief but would solidify my outrage and result in lasting damage to my walk and witness. Exercising the Spirit-given fruit of self-control would honor God and soften my heart.
- Consider the broader implications. Adam and Eve thought they could follow God on their terms.
- Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves [submit to Jesus’ kingship] and take up their cross daily [endure whatever hardships self-denial brings] and follow me [conform to his way and Word] (Luke 9:23 NIV, my explanations).
- I acknowledged my feelings but refused to give them access to the driver’s seat. Instead, depending on God’s grace, I vowed to bridle my tongue and undertake the thousand-step forgiveness journey. Because following Jesus means forgiving.
The Bottom Line
Whenever I choose my way over God’s, I’m setting myself up as my god. From the Kingdom of God to the Kingdom of Me —an unwise choice that never ends well.
Our decisions disclose the king we serve and determine the kingdom we inhabit.
What steps guide your decision-making? Please share below so we can learn from you.
"How to Increase Your Chances of Making Wise Choices" by @NancyLucenay on Beyond the Front Door Share on X - Call on God’s wisdom and grace. Adam and Eve trusted their decision-making abilities over God’s.
