by Michelle Welch
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
Sweetheart and I visited the St. Louis Museum of Art this weekend. It is the only building left standing from the 1904 World’s Fair. The short-sightedness of the entire event was mind boggling. The Fair covered some twelve hundred plus acres and had over one thousand buildings. And yet, there is nothing of architectural significance left of that huge event other than one building, a bird cage, and some lakes and ponds. It was all demolished at the end of the eight month-long fair. When you see pictures of the park and buildings, you are amazed at the marvels of engineering, agriculture, and architecture that were present at that time. Over fifty countries participated in the fair. The world was at peace.
After studying the details of this event, I found that all the marvelous buildings, other than the art museum, were built of a compound called staff. It was a mixture of plaster of paris and fiber, only designed to last eight months. Temporary. Its beauty was but a facade. Millions of people passed through its gates, each one wanting to see things that were beyond the reach of most Americans in that time period. But what they were seeing was a big fake. A temporary world of materialistic things. Within weeks of the close of the fair, everything was gone, even the two-hundred-and-fifty-foot ferris wheel, which was demolished and sold for scrap.
I wondered what people thought they were seeing. While there were things of value such as learning about electricity, water and sewage innovations, and the all-important invention of cotton candy, most of it was an illusion. Today, if you strolled through the beautiful grounds of Forest Park and had no knowledge of the past, you would never know this magnificent event occurred. It was all wiped away. I would venture to say that hundreds of people walk through the park every day and have no clue of the events that occurred in the past.
I thought of my tendency to put value on things I see and not enough value on the unseen magnificence of the eternities. The things I put value on are an illusion.
When I look at my children, my sweetheart, my home, my friends, my church, I come to understand these are the things of value, far greater than anything I could build, buy, or own. While my children often do things that break my heart, sweetheart and I are sometimes tired and cranky, my home is not a magnificent palace, and my church is full of broken people who have their own trials and tribulations, I am sure of the promise of the unseen. The promise from my Abba that all I must do is believe in Him. That all my children must do is believe in Him. That all I own should be given to Him and dedicated to Him. There is nothing seen or unseen He does not control. I have the promise He will take care of the details if I put my faith in Him.
Dearest Father God, I come before You in humble adoration. I am so blessed that You have shown me glimpses of the things of eternity that matter more than anything on this earth. I pray that I will seek only what is good and right and real. I pray that I might be a true example of Your Word. I pray that I will stop putting value on things of this world and seek after what is for Your good. I pray all I have will be of use to You, even my very life if You would take it. I love you Father God. I love that You are real, You are forever, and You stand with arms wide open, ready to receive this sinful child back into Your presence. In the Name of Christ Jesus, Amen.
Copyright © 2013, Michelle Welch, team member of Breath Of Life Women’s Ministries.
Photography taken from St. Louis Art Museum Website. Scripture from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
