Trusting When You Do Not See

Then Jesus told him,

Because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen

and yet have believed.

John 20:29 

Several years ago, my daughter called to ask if she could bring home a little kitten that she had rescued from an almost certain death sentence.  She was attending a boarding school at the time, and couldn't keep the kitten there, so she wanted to bring her to my house.  I love cats, and am a sucker for kittens. The next day, Sapphire entered my life.

This cat is a talker.  She must have a bit of Siamese in her background, because she talks and talks and talks.  If she wants food, she comes to get me where ever I am in the house, and talks all the way back to the kitchen and her food dish.  The most fascinating thing about this cat, however, is her love affair with fresh water.

Most of the time after she eats in the morning, Sapphire comes into my bathroom, hops up on the toilet, and begins to request water.  I come in, turn on a small stream from the sink faucet, and she hops up on the edge of the sink and begins to drink.  Now, mind you, this cat has a water dish in the kitchen that I rinse out and fill every time I feed her, but she doesn't "know" that the water is fresh, so she won't drink out of it.  I always refill her water bowl, but she is never looking at the water bowl when I set down the fresh water - she is busy chowing down on her morning food.  If she does not see me getting water, and placing it in front of her, she won't drink out of the bowl.  This morning when she began to ask for water in the bathroom, I picked her up, took her to the kitchen, refilled the water bowl I had just filled, set it down right in front of her, and she drank her fill.  Don't ask me why, but this cat needs to see me refill her bowl in order to believe that the water is fresh.

I remember a little song from my childhood that went something like this:  

 Trusting is believing that God will keep His word, 

And trusting is believing your every prayer is heard. 

And trusting is letting God know that you're depending on Him; 

It's feeling His forgiveness within.

Trusting is believing that God could care for you, 

And trusting is believing just as a child would do. 

It's like giving your hand to Jesus and knowing He won't let go, 

I'll trust Him because He loves me so.

So much of the time, I make seeing where I am going a prerequisite to taking the first step.  Jesus asks us to trust Him, even when we cannot see the way open before us.  The next time you are tempted to reject what you cannot see - remember Sapphire and her water bowl.  The fresh water is always there; she just has to believe.