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The Retroactive Power of Invisibility

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“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen,” (1 Timothy 1:17, emphasis mine).

I was surprised to realize this morning that I’ve never written about invisibility—not God’s invisibility, mine.  I remember seeing The Invisible Man when I was a kid.  And all the cartoon characters had to do was put on vanishing cream and *poof* they were invisible.  So as a kid, I was fascinated with the idea of invisibility.  I even had a strange belief (for a little while anyway) that if I couldn’t (or didn’t) see the other person, they couldn’t see me.  Obviously, I gave that up the first time that someone came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.  But invisibility was an idea that continued to fascinate me.

When I was about 35 years old, we lived in Durham, North Carolina, our house was in a good neighborhood that was just a few blocks away from the projects, with a major street that served as a boundary between the 2 neighborhoods.  Halloween saw lots of kids from the projects coming into our neighborhood to trick-or-treat, but there was never any trouble.  However, the businesses just a few blocks past our neighborhood were robbed constantly.  One morning I woke up very early, and just couldn’t get back to sleep.  So I went for a walk.  When I got to the road leading to the projects, I turned left—away from the projects and toward the businesses.

About a block away I saw 2 young men walking toward the projects—toward me, but on the other side of the street.  They looked like they were out looking for trouble, and I don’t say that just because they were black.  You can tell when someone’s up to no good, and although I don’t remember what they said as I got closer, I could hear that they were talking about robbery.  I quickly prayed, “Lord, if these 2 are looking to hurt me, please make me invisible,” and I continued walking.

When I got close to them, they suddenly stopped talking, stopped walking, and one of them looked in my direction.  I stopped walking, too.  Something said, “Be cool, say hi to them like nothing’s wrong.”  But I fought that urge and remained silent.  It wasn’t until later that I realized what had happened.  The devil hadn’t heard my prayer, prayed silently inside my mind.  But he could see the fruit of that prayer, so he had tried to get me to come out from God’s protection.

It was clear that they had heard my footsteps on the gravely road.   His eyes scanned right where I was, but he obviously did not see me.  We were near enough to street lights that he should have easily been able to see me, but he didn’t.  Soon they started walking again, and so did I.  A couple of times I saw the guy turn and look back, but he never saw me.

It wasn’t until months later that I realized that God had taken that prayer for invisibility, prayed when I was about 35, and had applied it at other times when I was in danger of someone wanting to hurt or kill me.  He answered that prayer retroactively—how cool is that?  And that’s easy for God, since He exists outside of the confines of our 4 dimensions (3 spatial plus time).  (For those who like science, and especially the science of God, here’s a great sermon by Chuck Missler, explaining the extra-dimensionality of God: An Extraterrestrial Message.)

The first time that God made me invisible was when I was 9 years old.  This is the stupidest thing I ever did, and it’s embarrassing to admit that I was ever this stupid, even as a child.  I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the sleepy little town of Burlingame.  During that time (the mid- to late-60’s) the Hells Angels were active and headquartered in northern California not far from Burlingame.  But they weren’t the do-good bike club that they are now.  At that time they really lived up to the name.  They were bloodthirsty men who killed for sport.  They would surround a car on a remote highway, force it off the road and kill the driver—often not even bothering to take his money.

Behind my elementary school there was a hill with lots of trails and one dirt road big enough for a car.  One summer day I was on the dirt road, intending to explore the trails—one of my favorite activities as a kid.  I was at the bend in the road when I heard a motorcycle coming up the road behind me.  I hid in a bush just past the bend and waited.  When the motorcycle rounded the bend, I jumped out of the bush and yelled, “Boo!”  The driver was so startled that he almost wrecked his bike, and going fast enough that he went on another 50 yards or so, fishtailing and cursing loudly.  I saw the Hells Angels jacket, and I knew that if he got his hands on me, he would kill me.

I ran to the other side of the road and climbed a tree.  But I didn’t climb a big tree.  This tree was no bigger around than your arm, with nowhere near enough greenery to hide me.  So there I was in a small tree, wearing a pink and yellow outfit.  I hung on tightly, hoping that the tree wasn’t shaking—I’m sure that I must have looked like a giant pink and yellow gooney bird.  He came back down the road, still cursing and muttering threats.  He looked into the bush that I had jumped out of, then came over to the side of the road where I was up the tree.  I squeezed my eyes shut, sure that if I continued to look at him, he would feel my eyes on him and look up.

Before long, I heard him go back to his bike, turn the motor on, and continue up the road, still cursing.  I got down out of the tree, ran down the road, and all the way home.  When I got home, I locked myself in my room until the terror had finished running through my system.  The question in my mind that ran over and over and over was: “How did he not see me?”  It was inexplicable.  But the answer is that God had made me invisible.  In fact, it really is the only answer that makes sense.

Another time, I was in my late twenties, and we lived in Marietta, Georgia at the time.  Again I had woken up very early and couldn’t sleep.  So I had gone out for a walk.  We lived in a quiet neighborhood at the edge of town.  I saw a van drive past me and the driver slammed on his brakes.  He turned the van around, and I knew that he was coming to get me.  So I ran to a tree and stood very still by it.  I was still in plain sight because it was a pine tree with no low branches.  The van drove past me very slowly, then turned around and drove past me again.  The driver turned around to make another pass and I ran to some juniper bushes nearby and hid.  The van turned at the end of the block and stopped.  It was between me and the house.  It sat there for a long time, just waiting.  I saw cigarettes flicked from both front windows, and knew that I was outnumbered.  My leg muscles began to cramp from the cool morning air, and to be honest, I had gotten bored.  So I slipped out of my hiding place and walked in the opposite direction, intending just to continue my walk.  I walked to my son’s school a few blocks away, and that’s when the van drove up to the school.  Again I stood still, this time among a small grove of pine trees.  I wasn’t by a tree, but I stood still, hoping that I looked more like a tree than a human.  It was a pretty ridiculous hope, because pine trees don’t usually have arms and long hair.  But they didn’t see me because God had made me invisible.

God had answered my prayer for invisibility retroactively as well as in the present.  How is this possible?  Nothing is impossible for God.  The Bible says that God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).  God’s foreknowledge (really all-knowledge, omniscience) makes answering prayer retroactively not only possible, but even likely by a loving God who intends to protect a stupid little girl up a tree about to be killed by an angry Hells Angel.  The Bible also says, “I will answer them before they even call to Me,” (Isaiah 65:24, NLT).

By far, the most amazing retroactively answered prayer is the one that every believer has prayed: the prayer of salvation.  Jesus died for our sins before we were even born!

God doesn’t make me invisible when I’m in no physical danger.  But He is faithful to answer prayers prayed in faith—retroactively, too!  God is good!

Divine Forgetfulness

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“No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.  “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more,” (Jeremiah 31:34, emphasis mine).

Of all the things that God can do, I think the most mind-blowing power He has is the power to forget.  Have you ever considered how God is able to forget?  I mean, He’s God, right?  He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10)—every detail!  How does God forget anything?  Psalm 9:18 says that God will never forget the needy.

I heard a sermon in which the preacher said that in order to resurrect the dead, God doesn’t need the entire body intact, only a sample of their DNA.  But there are many saints who were martyred by being burned.  Their DNA has been completely destroyed.  But God, who has numbered the very hairs on their heads (Matthew 10:30), remembers them in detail, right down to the details of their DNA.  Even with all our scientists and computers, we still don’t know the exact number of genes there are in human DNA, but estimates range up to 150,000, according to the Human Genome Project.  And each person is absolutely unique.  So if God knows the exact number of the hairs on each head of every person alive today (over 7 Billion, source World Population Clock), and everyone who has ever previously lived, which is a number that only God knows, but we could estimate would be another 7 Billion, that is a mind-boggling amount of information.  And God doesn’t need to write it down.  He remembers it—all of it!

So I think I’m safe in saying that God has an infinite memory—He is omniscient, which means that He knows everything (I John 3:20, Hebrews 4:13).  How does someone with an infinite memory forget?  Yet the Bible says again and again that God will forget our sins (Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:17, Isaiah 43:25, and Jeremiah 31:34, above).

The Bible gives the answer in Psalm 32:1: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered,” (emphasis mine).  And again: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them,” (Romans 4:7-8, emphasis mine).  How does someone with an infinite memory forget?  He forgets by focusing on the thing that has covered our sins.  There is only one thing that covers sin, and that is blood.  And only the blood of Jesus permanently covers sin.

If your sins have not been covered by the blood of Jesus, you cannot stand in the presence of our Holy God.  But you can very easily remedy that situation.  Right now you can make Jesus your Savior.  Pray this prayer with me:

Lord God, I know that I’ve sinned against You.  I am truly sorry.  Please forgive me for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Thank You for sending Jesus to die in my place to cover my sins.  Help me to live a life that is pleasing to You through the power of Your Holy Spirit who I receive right now.  In Jesus’ Name I pray.  Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the family of God!  Yes, you have been adopted as His child, and you are now a new creation (Romans 8, Galatians 4:6-7, and 2 Corinthians 5:17).  All the old life has passed away.  Hallelujah!  To start this new life right, you should do 2 things right away:

  1. Read the Bible.  If you don’t have a Bible, most cities have a Christian bookstore where you can get one.  Most churches also sell Bibles—some even give Bibles to new believers.
  2. Get involved with a Bible-preaching church in your area.  Notice I say “get involved.”  Church is not a building.  Church is a living organism—the Body of Christ.  So get actively involved.

Remember this above all else: God is good!

A Pipsqueak and a Fish Story

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I came across an article in the NY Times titled Seeing Darwin through Christians Eyes, in which a Christian politician proposed naming February 12 (Charles Darwin’s birthday) as “Darwin Day” as a measure to “recognize the importance of science.”  Many Christians believe that evolution is a credible theory.

Note that the Theory of Evolution is still only a theory.  There are major gaps in the fossil record that science cannot explain.  There are also evolutionary leaps like the Cambrian Explosion that disprove the gradual change that Darwin theorized.  There is also the issue of Irreducible Complexity that would seem to be an evolutionary leap within the organism.  Lee Strobel explains irreducible complexity better than I can (The Case for a Creator).  Basically, irreducible complexity shows that there are some complex organs that seemed to come from nothing, for example the flagellum, a whip-like organ that works like a propeller.  There is no pre-flagellar organ.

Note also that at the end of his life, Charles Darwin recanted his own theory of evolution—something that is still hotly debated.  Whether he did or not, there are still such enormous gaps in the fossil record that even 154 years after the publication of Origin of the Species it remains only a theory.

Lots of Christians believe in evolution: 58% of Catholics, 54% of Orthodox, 51% of mainline Protestants, and 24% of Evangelical Christians.  So why do so many Christians believe in evolution?

I have a theory of my own.  My theory is that a lot of Christians believe that God needs their help.  They don’t really believe in an omnipotent God.  I’ll give you a couple of very common examples:

  1. How do you picture Samson (Judges 13-16)?  Most people immediately picture in their minds someone who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger: big and muscular, right?  Wrong!  Why would the Philistines want to know the secret of his great strength?  If the secret of his strength was his big muscles, they wouldn’t have to ask.  After all, nobody asked what made Goliath strong.  Samson’s strength was supernatural and had nothing whatsoever to do with the size of his muscles.  Most likely, Samson was a proverbial 98 pound weakling (at least in appearance).
  2. Most people think that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.  But the Bible says “a great fish,” (Jonah 1:17).  I checked and the word whale is not found in the Bible.  Although whales have been spotted off the coast of Israel, it is very rare that they enter the Mediterranean Sea.  There was a whale sited off the coast of Israel on May 12, 2010 (Whale Sighted off Israel).  There is also the strange case of James Bartley, who was swallowed by a whale and survived.  It is said that he was in the whale’s belly for 15 hours, and the experience bleached his skin and left him blind.  If you can believe that God provided a whale at that precise time and place to swallow Jonah (thus allowing him to breathe, being a mammal) and protected his body from the whale’s corrosive stomach acids.  How much more of a leap is it to believe that it was a literal fish?

Many people, even Christians, treat these Bible accounts as myths, stories to tell children.  Here’s the thing: do you believe in a God that is able to make a man supernaturally strong without big muscles? Or preserve Jonah’s life (and skin and eyesight) for 3 days inside a fish? Or create the whole universe simply by speaking it into existence in just six 24-hour days?

Only you can answer for yourself, but my answer to all 3 questions is yes.  I don’t have to know exactly how He did it to believe that He can do it.

If your prayers are not being answered, could it be because you don’t believe in a God that is able to help you?  Jesus didn’t do many miracles in His hometown because of the people’s lack of faith (Matthew 13:58).  Maybe you’ve been overexposed to lukewarm Christianity—a Christianity that teaches a big, muscular Samson and a whale that swallowed Jonah and evolutionary creation.  If your idea of God is too small, ask for wisdom.  James 1:5 says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  Wisdom is what you need to believe in a truly omnipotent God.  And all you’ve got to do is ask for it.  God is good!

Happy Science Fiction Day!

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Actually, I didn’t know that there even was a Science Fiction Day, but I just saw a notice in the elevator here at Mom’s retirement apartments wishing everyone a happy Science Fiction Day.  I wouldn’t call myself a big fan of Science Fiction.  I don’t go in for robots or ray guns or alien stuff, but I love time travel stories.  I can sit through even the worst-written, badly-acted movie if time travel is used as a plot device.  Almost any story can be told using Science Fiction.  The first Terminator movie is a love story.  In fact, if you leave out the terminator robot and time travel, Terminator would have been dismissed as a “chick flick” far more romantic than anything Nora Ephron ever wrote.  The protagonist is female, the man falls in love from a picture of her and comes to rescue her.

Back in the mid-90’s I read Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time.”  I was thrilled to see that Hawking wrote in the introduction that he was writing the book because he wanted to know if there was a God.  And everything I read in the book, especially the Big Bang and about multiple dimensions (beyond our 3 plus time), pointed very clearly to a Creator that could only be God.  And then I was disappointed when I got to the end of the book, and Hawking not only failed to recognize God, he didn’t even mention the quest for God that had started the book.

When you think of human history from both a scientific and Christian point of view, the story of the Universe is a lot like the Terminator.  The protagonist is us and our Creator is so in love with us that He came to rescue us.  And instead of a Terminator robot, the enemy is a fallen angel and his evil army that live in the invisible Nomansland of the spirit world that exists all around us.  Before it was the title for a movie, the Passion of Christ was the motivation for coming to be one of us: His white-hot passionate love for you and me.  It’s the supernatural science non-fiction story to beat all stories, with something in it for everyone—action, danger, romance, suspense, mystery, and adventure.  It is not only the greatest story ever told, it’s also the greatest story ever lived.

The Wild Life

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The patriarch of my host family here in Hungary, Tibor, teaches earth sciences and is an avid naturalist.  There is a glass case in my room with a gem and mineral collection, including petrified wood, a shell collection, and a bug collection (I thankfully noted that they’re all dead).  Tibor had been teacher of the morning the day I arrived.  Unfortunately, I missed it because I arrived close to midnight.

Tibor likes to learn the English names for plants and animals.  The other day he approached me with a plant to smell—I knew it immediately: rosemary.  He brought me another one: basil.  But he stumped me on the third one, which I had never seen without flowers: oleander.  There are also several orchids around the house, and lots of flowers in the garden (where I discovered kittens first thing in the morning after I arrived).

There is a river that runs through their town, and just outside of town is the confluence of this river with another river.  He translated for me the names of the rivers: the Black and the White rivers.  He delighted to show me the rivers at their confluence and the river dam, where the fishing is good on the spillway and the dammed part is good for motor boating.  I saw several holes in the ground as we walked back to the car, and asked about them.  When I see holes in the ground, I think “snakes.”  But Tibor said that they are mole holes.  Given the large number of holes, I think moles are far more likely than snakes.

At the Summer Camp, where I’ve been helping out all week, there is another avid naturalist, Alexander.  Unlike Tibor, I think Alexander is strictly a hobbyist, but his passion for all things natural is obvious.  Since he doesn’t speak any English, Alexander had never approached me.  But since I have a curiosity about nature, I approached him.  Alexander brought an enormous telescope to church and had it set up in the yard during snack time.  It was equipped with a special filter for viewing the sun.  He showed me a book with a picture of sunspots and gestured at the telescope.  I looked through it and sure enough, there were several sunspots, just like in the book.

The next day Alexander brought a jar, and from it he produced a live bug about an inch and a half long.  He was letting the children touch and hold the bug (depending on their willingness).  I looked on, amazed as always at how children could touch something that I simply cannot bring myself to touch.  Seeing my curiosity, he approached me with the bug and held it out for me.  My body language made it obvious to him that I have a fear of bugs.  He tried to reassure me that it was harmless, and even if I had understood the words he used, it would have made no difference.  There’s something deep inside me, an ancient revulsion, that cannot be reasoned away.  I’ve faced all my other fears and conquered them all: flying, heights, public speaking.  But as much as I would like to conquer this last fear, there’s just something too ingrained to be overcome.

It’s not real, but real enough for me! EEEEEEEEK!

The following day Alexander came to me holding a bug that was four inches long—it was made of rubber.  He tried to get me to touch the rubber bug.  I couldn’t even touch it.  I understand that he was trying to help me overcome this unreasoning fear of bugs.  And I appreciate it, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch it.  He didn’t push it, but backed-off as soon as he saw that I couldn’t do it.  The bug had a suction cup on its belly, so he stuck it to his watch, and proceeded to show me other things he had brought: a plastic lizard, a wooden turtle, and several nature books.

The final day of Summer Camp, Alexander showed me several old calendars he had: calendars of Alaska, calendars of sea creatures, calendars of birds.  As he showed me page after page of wonders, he chattered as though I could understand.  What I did understand is both his passion for nature, and his kindness toward me and toward the children.

Last night Tibor had a surprise for me.  He took me to meet the town cheese-maker.  The cheeseman showed us how he makes the cheese.  He put a piece of aged cheese under my nose and was surprised to see how much I appreciated the smell.  I explained that I live in Italy, so I know that the stinkier the cheese is, the better it tastes.  He appreciated that.

Today there was a conference for the seniors of the church, at which Pastor H. Koraćs Gėza spoke.  I was told that I would have about five minutes to speak to them.  So of course I prayed about it, and here’s what I said:

Looking out here at all the gray hair, I am aware that many of you and your parents kept your faith in Christ under the oppressive rule of the atheistic Communists.  I have two things to say to you: First, I am deeply sorry that my country believed the lies of the Communists and did nothing to help you.  Secondly, I know that someday you will trade your silver crowns for gold crowns.  I am here to honor you for your faithful service to your Lord and mine.

To the young people here I say: learn from these elders, and share the love of Christ with everyone you know.

And finally, I would like to thank Pastor Gėza for coming.  It is an honor to meet you.

When Pastor Gėza returned to the platform, he observed that Christianity had actually flourished and grown under Communist oppression.  He said that Christianity now faces a far more dangerous enemy in the form of complacency.  I believe he’s right.

Tonight at dinner, Piroska, the matriarch of this family observed: today has been a day of spiritual cleaning.  Yes, indeed, it was!