If we do not know how to discern the movement of the Spirit of God, we have to rely on the visible instead. The natural and material world, which is good in its own created existence, is but a shadow of the far more substantial, though invisible, spiritual realities.
We tend to think that what is visible is real and certain, while invisible things are doubtful. From this inverted reasoning comes all idolatry, both ancient and modern. The tangible demands the greater focus and importance for most of us.
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:25
Rather than Paul’s statement being merely about morality, it goes much deeper. He is talking about ontology, that is, our belief in what is real. The “truth of God” is the reality of the unseen things of God, while the “lie” we substitute for it is the mistaken way we live that comes from misunderstanding what is real.
We easily live out of a distorted, idolatrous view because what can be seen seems real and the unseen questionable, if it exists at all. Our adoption of this perspective is understandable.
Created things are obviously apparent to our physical senses. Invisible, spiritual things are not. Unless we develop the ability to sense spiritual things, we will be blind to what is true and ultimately real, but is not physical in nature. Living by our natural senses means we will give undue priority to created things.
In the story of our own development, we begin knowing our world through our natural senses. The sublime importance of what we know not through the natural senses but through the heart and mind, such as love and truth, is also present from the beginning as well. But unless our emphasis shifts from the created to the uncreated, which is of God’s self and not merely from God, we will remain committed to life based on what is visible.
We could say that the spiritual journey is the move from being captivated by creation, as wonderful as it is, to longing for the Uncreated from which the cosmos comes. We must begin to realize that the universe is a sign, and in a sense the shadow of spiritual realities, which are far more important. The things of God are revealed to us through creation, but we often become fixated on what is before us immediately rather than paying attention to what is behind everything truly.
Walking by the Spirit, living by the Spirit, is the outlook on life where the invisible and unseen is what we seek. A spiritual person is not tending to look at created things only, things which will ultimately pass away. Visible things can be icons of a far more generative reality.
We look “through” what is seen to what is unseen. We see in the lily and sparrow the love and care of God. We see in wealth only that which moth and rust corrupt, and what thieves can steal. In love we “see” that which is eternal.
For spiritual people, the world is enchanted with spirits both beneficent and malign. These realities are not of the world that is visible, though they may appear so sometimes. To live in this world with spiritual sight is to sense what cannot be seen, to know that is ultimate, and to seek to follow God’s Spirit.