What Do You See?

December 27th, 2025

2 Corinthians 4:11-18.

In the 1990s, there was a craze called “Magic Eye.” Developed by an engineer, 3D artist, and programmer, Magic Eye posters were popular optical illusions, known as autostereograms, and were designed to create a 3D image when viewed in a specific way. If you looked at the image in the correct way, you would see a three-dimensional image that had been “hidden” in the two-dimensional pattern. Many people would stare at these images and find the hidden gems. However, not everyone (including myself) could see them.

Life can sometimes feel like a Magic Eye image: What we see before us doesn’t make sense and we strain to see what God reveals through His Spirit and Word. The world says what we see is what we get (and it can be a whole lot of horrible). God says what we need to see is unseen—it is eternal: “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” (v. 18).

The world around us can be discouraging. We may be weary and tempted to lose heart. God, however, calls us to fix our eyes on Him to see the hope we have.

Author: Stefanie Hendrickson