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