When I was 14, I took my learner’s license test. I thought I knew the rules of the road—I’d been watching drivers my whole life. And when it came time to prove what I knew, I failed. Remarkably. I got three out of the first four questions wrong. It was embarrassing. But I still wanted to drive. So I studied. I practiced. And a year later, I came back ready. I passed the knowledge exam with flying colours. But then came the eye exam. I sat down at that machine, with my face pressed against it, and stared at the shapes and letters. The examiner started. First question, wrong. Second, wrong. Not again I thought to myself. I got the next one wrong also, and the lady looked at me, “are you sure you don’t need glasses?” Nope. I squinted and guessed and managed to get by, and only because the examiner was gracious.
Here’s what I found out years later: I have a bad eye. It’s blurry but I never knew because my brain has adapted. It mostly relies on my good eye. With both open I drive, read, and function just fine. I’ve gotten used to it. Could I fix it? Sure. But it would take a lot of work – getting glasses, training my brain to use both eyes again, I think there was an eye patch involved at some point. So I just don’t. I’m convinced that I see well enough. And that’s how many of us treat faith. We think that faith is for later – something that helps us see God after we die. For now we get by on our own. We adapt. We limp along spiritually using just our own strength, our own resources, our own willpower. We function. We get by. We’ve convinced ourselves we see well enough.
But listen: Moses didn’t live that way. His faith wasn’t a get out of hell free card that he was saving for the end. To borrow from Hebrews 11:1, his faith was the reality of things hoped for, the proof of things unseen. It helped him to see beyond what was visible, even beyond was possible. By faith, Moses saw the impossible happen – right here, right now, in his everyday life. And that vision changed everything. Our passage today leads us through his life to show us that faith isn’t just about seeing God someday. It’s about seeing God at work, today.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.
Interestingly enough, Moses’ story of faith doesn’t begin with Moses – it begins with his parents. They looked at their newborn son and “saw that the child was beautiful.” Now, that doesn’t just mean he was a cute baby. The Greek word here implies “lovely to God.” It meant that God had plans for Moses. So they chose to act in faith, not fear. They actually trusted God with the very life of their son. And Moses was blessed beyond belief because of it. Parents, there is no greater gift than giving your kids the example of a life lived by faith. A life that takes risks for God’s kingdom, that doesn’t shrink back in fear.
That’s what’s so remarkable about this couple; they were not afraid of the king’s edict. Pharaoh had ordered every Hebrew baby boy to be thrown into the Nile. This wasn’t a suggestion. It came with a death sentence. The threat was real, and the consequences of disobedience were severe. But Moses’ parents show us that faith looks beyond fear. They didn’t deny the danger—they looked past it to God’s greater purpose. They saw something invisible that was more real than Pharaoh’s very visible threat. That’s what our faith does. It doesn’t ignore reality. It doesn’t pretend threats aren’t real. But it is the proof of things unseen. It reminds us that fear doesn’t tell the whole story. Anxiety makes us fixate on the problem, but faith invites us to see God’s creative solution. Faith looks beyond visible threats to the invisible God, who is greater. It sees what God is doing behind the scenes.
As I look out at our congregation I know there are some very legitimate reasons to fear right now. There are health problems that are out of our control, financial concerns, and change that brings uncertainty. We have every right to be afraid. But even when everything around us is uncertain, God is not. Moses’ parents had every reason to fear Pharaoh, but by faith they saw something different. Faith opened their eyes to a reality bigger than their fear. And it rubbed off on Moses.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.
Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s palace. He had everything: identity, power, wealth, security – everything the world values. And the text says he “refused” to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. That’s a deliberate rejection. He wasn’t ignorant of what he was giving up. He knew exactly what he was refusing. Notice the text doesn’t say sin has no pleasure. It says sin has “fleeting pleasures.” The word means temporary enjoyment, real gratification – but brief. Sin isn’t pleasureless. Egypt had real treasures. But Moses saw through the allure. He recognized that what sin offers is temporary, passing, fleeting. It makes promises that it can’t keep. Think about it in your own life. Lust is only a shadow of love, and a weak one at that. You can’t build a relationship on deceit. Sin will always disappoint in the long run. But that doesn’t mean a life lived following Jesus is disappointing. God didn’t create you to like a passionless robot without desire. It’s quite the opposite.
A prolific Christian writer named C.S. Lewis put it this way: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not to strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Moses could see this. So he made a thoughtful decision – it was calculated. “He considered.” That’s deliberate evaluation, careful thought. He saw what Egypt had to offer, and it paled in comparison to life offered by Christ. He didn’t actually know Christ. But Moses stepped into the mission of God, the one that started with Abraham, was fulfilled in Jesus, and now continues on through us, the Church. The best that life has to offer now is but a drop in the bucket compared to eternity with Christ. He concluded that eternity outweighs temporary. God’s reward was greater than Egypt’s treasures.
That’s what sin does. It offers us mud pies and calls it satisfaction. It gives us puddles and tells us we’ve found the ocean. And because we can’t see what God is offering, we settle. We play in the dirt, convinced we’re having the time of our lives.
But Moses? Moses could see. By faith, he looked past the mud pies of Egypt and saw the ocean of God’s eternal reward. And that sight sustained him.
“By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.”
Here’s the paradox at the heart of faith: Moses saw the One who cannot be seen. He beheld the invisible God. This is most likely referring to the Exodus—Moses leading Israel out of Egypt. And notice: he was “not being afraid of the anger of the king.” Earlier in Exodus 2, when Moses fled Egypt after killing the Egyptian, he left because he was afraid. But by the time of the Exodus, something had changed. Moses had encountered God at the burning bush. He had seen God work through the plagues. And now, Pharaoh’s anger didn’t frighten him anymore. Why? Because Moses had beheld the invisible God, and once you’ve seen God, earthly kings don’t look so intimidating anymore.
But here’s the key phrase: “Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.” The word “persevered” means he kept going despite opposition. And the secret to his perseverance wasn’t willpower. It wasn’t trying harder. It was seeing more clearly.
Moses endured because he saw God. Beholding the invisible God by faith enabled him to persevere through everything Egypt threw at him. Sometimes we get this backward. We think perseverance comes through sheer effort, gritting our teeth and holding on. But endurance doesn’t come from trying harder—it comes from seeing better. When you behold the invisible God by faith, you can endure anything. Even death itself.
“By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites.”
This was the first Passover – the night God delivered Israel from Egypt. And notice: Moses and the people obeyed before they saw the result. They killed the lambs. They sprinkled the blood on the doorposts. They stayed inside. And they trusted God’s word that the Destroyer would pass over every house marked with blood.
And there’s something here we can’t miss: the Passover lamb points forward to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Just as the blood of the lamb saved Israel from the destroyer, the blood of Christ saves us from judgment. Just as they had to apply the blood to their doorposts, we must trust in Christ’s blood for our salvation. And what an amazing day it will be when Christ comes through for us, just as he followed through for them.
“By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.”
Faith witnesses the impossible – and then testifies to what God has done. The Red Sea doesn’t part naturally. It was impossible. Humanly speaking, Israel was trapped at the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army bearing down on them. But faith aligned God’s people with God’s purposes, and God did what only He could do. He parted the sea. They crossed on dry ground. He accomplished the impossible. And just in case anyone thought this was a fluke of nature, look at the contrast in verse 29: Israel crossed by faith. Egypt attempted to do the same and drowned. The same sea that saved Israel destroyed Egypt. The difference? Faith.
When God does the impossible through our faith, we become witnesses. We testify to what only God could do. Our lives become evidence of God’s power. Our stories declare His faithfulness. And they help other people see the work of God more clearly in their own lives as well.
So here’s my question: where are you letting fear and sin cloud your vision? How are they preventing you from doing the good works that God has laid out for you? Where are your priorities for your life, and your family’s misaligned with God’s priorities? Are you ready to stop settling, and start seeing?
Let me come back to where we started. I’m supposed to wear glasses. My brain has adapted to mostly using one good eye, and honestly, I’ve gotten comfortable with it. I can function. I can get by. But in a way I’m settling for less. I’m choosing adapted, blurry, one-eyed vision when clear, full vision is available to me right now.
Don’t make that same mistake spiritually. Too often we live out half our faith. We think, “Jesus save me for later—I’ll see God when I die. I’ll experience His power then. For now, I’ll just get by with what I can do on my own.” And so we make friends with fear and tolerate sin while we focus on today instead of preparing for the rest of eternity. But God is offering you something better. He’s not asking you to wait until heaven to see Him. By faith in Christ, you can see the invisible God right now. Today. In the middle of your circumstances.
Stop settling for blurry, one-eyed, spiritual vision. Stop postponing real sight until heaven. The glasses of faith are available right now. Put them on. See what Moses saw.
See the invisible God—not someday, but today. By faith in Christ, behold Him now.
When Jesus was on earth, he knew that after his death and resurrection he would return to the Father. He knew we wouldn’t see him again until his second coming. So he gave us the practice of Communion to be a tangible reminder of his presence with us. Something that we can see and touch. The wafer, or the bread, is his body that was broken then, so that we can have freedom from death and sin now. And the juice, or the wine, is his blood poured out as a promise that we are part of the people of God, and the same power that saved them in Egypt will save us from sin and death when Jesus returns. So come, take the elements, and partake when you’re ready.
Let’s pray.