Good evening family, it’s a beautiful Thursday and there’s a strong impression on my heart to share this teaching with us. I trust God for understanding and I hope we all get blessed in Jesus name.
WYSIWYG is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get” and somewhere along the course of today, like I mentioned earlier, it dropped in my spirit to explore these words carefully from a scriptural perspective. Let’s look at Romans 8 verse 24-25 together
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already see? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.
There’s nothing more fulfilling than having an assurance that what we hope for is going to be ours. I recall hoping for Christmas gifts from my uncle as a kid. Of course, I never really got any special gift, but the thought of it always brought a smile to my face. No matter what anyone told me, I BELIEVED so much in my uncle to make it up to me every year.
Then one year came and my uncle said he wanted me to come spend Christmas with him. My hope was finally becoming a reality. I never for once doubted him as a child. You know how it went already, don’t you? Well, that Christmas holiday never came. What came instead was a well-cooked excuse of how busy he was and how I was going to have to wait till next Easter before I could come spend time at his place.
Oh, how trusting (or should I say gullible) I was as a child. I bet we all had that uncle that never fulfilled his promises. Yet we still hoped nonetheless. The question is why?
In Paul’s words, we hope for “it” because we haven’t seen it. The moment we see it our hope vanishes. Nobody hopes for what they’ve already seen or what they already have. We only keep hoping because we have a “picture” in our minds; a preconceived notion of a beautiful “gift” for which we continue to hope. This is our lives as Christians.
There is one more word in that passage of scripture that deserves emphasis. It’s the word “patience“. Verse 25 says if we are hoping for “it“, then we must learn to wait for it. But not just the usual waiting. It says we must wait “patiently“. Have you ever been to the hospital and had to wait in line till its your turn? That the usual waiting because you’re sure it will be your turn soon. In fact, you can count how many people are ahead of you and say.. “it’ll be my turn in forty minutes” and your estimation comes out true. That’s not waiting patiently!
Waiting patiently is like… “going to play the lottery and waiting for the results“. You’re not sure what the results will be but you’re so expectant that it’ll be in your favor. That adrenaline, that anxiety that comes with not knowing, yet hoping! That’s what Paul describes when he says “hope that is seen is not hope” (KJV). You don’t know the results, but you hope for the best nonetheless. It’s crazy. It looks stupid. But that’s why it’s Christian! That’s when you can truly say that “What you see is what you get”
Faith isn’t easy business. But you have to set your eyes on Someone during the waiting process if you’re believing God for something! Hebrews 12 helps us to grasp better how to do this. It says in verses 1-2 that we should “run with patience the race that is set before us; Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
Jesus is our finish line. He’s what we should see in any and every situation. And he what we would get if we set our eyes on Him. Remember, WYSIWYG!
Are you trusting God for a miracle? A blessing, a result or anything at all? Set your eyes on Jesus and you can be sure of one thing. He’s not like any of those uncles who keep promising and never delivers. He is a sure Guy! Trust Him, set your eyes on Him and He’d never let you down. God bless you.
By
Pastor Femi
…unapologetically Christian!
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