Is that Real? When What You See Doesn’t Match What God Said

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1, ESV

Walking by my husband on a mission to another room before I forgot why I was heading there, he stopped me to show me a video on his phone of a fire that had happened that day in the northern portion of our state. As I watched the video showing firefighters on the extension ladder of their truck aiming their hoses at the tower portion of the county courthouse, the words that exited my mouth caught me off guard.

Is that real?

I actually stopped and thought about what I’d just said.

There has never been a time in my life when I have so often questioned whether what I was seeing with my own eyes was real. “Don’t believe everything you hear” has been common wisdom since childhood, but the latter half of that phrase, “and only half of what you see” wasn’t a phrase as needed. “Seeing is believing” was most often my motto. Now we live in a time when even what we see can be both manipulated and completely fabricated.

Images and videos can be altered or generated. Moments can be staged. Things can look 100% true and still be completely false. It’s strange to live in a world where your eyes can no longer be trusted as they once were.

It can be frustrating, but not just because of photo touchups, the internet, or AI, but because sometimes life can feel that way, too.

Why can’t our situations be as easily altered? Surely, by now the prayer would have been answered or the door would have opened. By now, the dream should be more clear, the marriage should feel lighter, the child should be doing better, finances should have turned around, healing should have come, or the calling should feel less complicated.

Instead, what you see in your life right now looks nothing like the promise you’ve been believing for. And when what you see feels loud, faith can feel hard.

When Appearances Shake Us

April Fool’s Day has always been one of my favorite days.

When I was teaching, I was constantly “falling for” the silly stories and ridiculous ideas my first graders brought me. It was part of the fun. My own boys enjoyed those antics, too. My husband, though, was never much for fooling around on April 1.

His reasoning was simple. He always wanted our boys to trust what Dad said.

This year, however, he decided to have a little fun. He used AI to create a photo of the two of us holding keys to a new truck and sent it to the boys. For a moment, one of them believed it. My husband came clean immediately, but said he felt bad for fooling them.

And honestly, I understood. Trust matters.

We all want people in our lives whose words we can trust. We want what they say to be dependable. Reliable. Faithful. True.

That is what makes Hebrews 11:1 so powerful. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (ESV). Faith isn’t pretending. It’s not denying reality. It’s not working up your emotions so you feel spiritual. It’s not an emotion at all.

Faith is confidence in the character and nature of God.

God doesn’t exaggerate, filter, manipulate, or mislead. God isn’t a counterfeiter. He doesn’t offer false hope or speak nonchalantly. When God makes a promise, it’s true.

What Do You Do When Life Doesn’t Look Like the Promise

We all have seasons of waiting and hoping. We love God, honor His commands, and believe His Word. Honestly, however, what we see with our natural eyes can be a stark contrast to what His Word says and feel far more convincing than the promises we’ve been praying.

Maybe that is where you find yourself right now.

You know what God has said, but what you see in front of you feels contradictory. He stirred a dream in your heart, but you see no way for it to come to pass. You’ve prayed, waited, trusted, and hoped, and now you are wondering if you misunderstood Him after all.

So let me encourage you. Just because you don’t see fulfillment yet doesn’t make the promise less real.

We all feel better when we can point to the thing we’ve been praying for, when the prayer has come true as we hoped. We want proof. We want to check off the box or have measurable progress. We want results we can hold in our hands.

But faith is believing and trusting what we can’t yet determine based on our natural senses alone. It’s trusting His heart before we can trace His hand. That isn’t foolish. It’s fidelity.

God is Faithful

Fidelity is “the state of being faithful. Accuracy; exactness.”[i]

In a world permeated by change, edited images, conjured videos, and shifting opinions, God and His Word remain unchanged. He is faithful, accurate, and exact. Malachi 3:6a says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change [but remain faithful to My covenant with you]” (AMP). James 1:17 tells us that God is the giver of perfect gifts, “for He is perfect and never changes” (AMP). Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever” (AMP).

Over and over you find this truth in God’s Word.

He isn’t careless with His words, vague with His promises, or unstable in His character. If it is in His Word, it is true. And Jeremiah 1:12 tells us that God is “actively watching over His Word to perform it.”

If you’re walking through a season that feels unsteady or your heart feels shattered and your mind uncertain, those are truths that matter deeply.

There have been moments when I was experiencing something I wished wasn’t real. Sitting in a chair across from a white-coated official hearing a diagnosis about my child. Getting a phone call that our son was on his way to the emergency room. Those moments were real. I lived them. You may be living them, too.

The diagnosis may be real. The phone call, the disappointment, and the delay may be real. The closed door, the ended relationship, and the tears may be real. But none of those things are more real than the faithfulness and love of God. And you can trust the fidelity of His Word.

We Don’t Walk by Sight

It may sometimes seem easier to trust what is falling apart in front of us than to trust what God has spoken over us. I’ve heard the report spoken that felt louder than the Truth buried in my heart.

In those moments, it is time to get out the shovel and dig until we uncover and remember the promises that become life to our souls. That takes faith, and that is the key word in Hebrews 11:1.

Faith is the Greek word pistis, a word describing the belief in the existence of God as Creator and Jesus as the Messiah. It is assurance, fidelity.[ii] Faith is knowing and believing God’s Word is true regardless of what we see, hear, feel . . . it’s more real than our senses can perceive.

It isn’t denial or hype. It isn’t pretending everything is fine. It’s truth. God’s truth.

God’s truth is steady when emotions rise and fall. His truth is untouched by delay and not based on how things appear right now. His truth is based on who He is.

2 Corinthians 1:20, AMP

His promises aren’t shaky or unstable. Our job is to come into agreement with them. That is our faith-filled response. Amen, literally meaning, “so be it.” Lord, You said it, so be it in my life.

Jesus calls us to trust Him. Not because we’ve seen Him. Not because we’ve touched Him. But because without that trust, we have nothing.

There have been moments when things have been so good I’ve needed to pinch myself to be sure it was real. God’s promises are more real than what you can fathom. So when you find yourself in the place where impossibility screams louder than faith, pause, pray, and open His Word. Remind yourself of who He has always been and come into agreement with what He says about you and your life.

His promises are true and He is worthy of our trust. His yes still stands, and by faith, you can still say amen.

Pray

Father, I thank You that You are always faithful, even when my mind wanders. I can always trust Your Word and hold to Your promises. It is there that I find the happiness, favor, and security I long for, because I believe in You. I choose to hold tightly to You. I won’t be ruled by my natural senses, but will hold to and agree with, in faith, the promises You have spoken over me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

[i] Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “fidelity,” accessed March 24, 2026, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fidelity.

[ii]“G4102 – pistis – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 2 Apr, 2026. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4102/kjv/tr/0-1/

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For more about faith and believing for the impossible, get Holly’s book, Believing for a Miracle available in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon.

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