Did you know that you can physically see something yet not recognize that you are seeing it? Studies, and some hilarious videos, prove that what our eyes see doesn’t always translate to our brain. Like this video by researchers Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, for example. Watch it closely, and count how many times the kids wearing white shirts pass the ball to each other (don’t read ahead before watching!):

Did you see it? Did you see the massive, man-sized gorilla walk out onto the court, beat his chest, and walk off? In their study at Harvard (called the Invisible Gorilla), they found that half of the people didn’t even notice him! When we don’t expect to see something, it can literally be invisible to us.

What you aren’t looking for, you are likely to miss. What you don’t spend your time and effort on is likely to go unnoticed. The beauty of this is that that opposite is also true. If you know to look for the gorilla in the video, you are likely to see it. What you are actively seeking with your life you are likely to find. I think this I why Jesus says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”^[1]

What we seek, we find. What we make space for is going to grow. The key is that we have to actively make the space and make the effort if we truly value something. If we don’t purposefully seek something with our actions, it’s going to get lost in the craziness of life. I don’t know about you, but if I don’t intentionally make space for the people and things that really matter to me, they get drown out in the noise of work, bills, issues, chores, and the different people and projects that demand my time. My life can end up looking like an I-Spy book with stuff just thrown around everywhere if I’m not careful. It’s impossible to truly see anything because there is so much chaos and clutter everywhere. My family, relationship with God, and my own health get tossed in the drawer mixed in with thousands of other things and I can’t find them.

We aren’t created to see through clutter very well. This is why Apple products have the design that they do. The designers intentionally make use of something called negative space. What this means is that they create a lot of empty, or negative, space around what they want you to focus on. In the case of an Apple product, this is the screen. Take a look at an iphone for example. Turn on the screen. It’s like the rest of the device disappears thanks to the colors, materials, and design that they chose. There is no clutter on the device to pull your attention away. It’s simple and easy to see what you are supposed to see. They were very aware of how our eyes and minds work when designing these products.

Or take out a piece of paper and make a single dot on the paper with a marker. Now take another sheet of paper and make hundreds of dots. Is it easier to see the one dot surrounded by tons of white space on the one page or to pick out an individual dot among the hundreds on the other page? What we create space around is much easier to see.

The same is true in life when it comes to what truly matters to us and what we deeply desire. What are you seeking in your life? Before you answer, take a look at your calendar. Write down what you did yesterday on a piece of paper broken down in 30 minute segments. The truth is, whatever you think you desire and whatever you think you are seeking, what you are actually spending time on reveals what you most deeply care about. What you do every single day without fail, what you spend your precious resources and energy on, that is what you are seeking. 

We may say that we desire a relationship with God, or a deeper relationship with our family, or time to do a passion project, but if we don’t actually create space around these desires, we don’t truly care about them. What we are seeking is revealed by what we actually do. What we desire is shown in what we create space around. Like the gorilla in the experiment, the things we aren’t looking for through our intentional actions will be missed. Maybe you are reading this right now and feel like your life is out of control. You feel like time is slipping by, you don’t feel connected to God, or you don’t have time for the people around you who need your love. Maybe it feels like life is one big chaotic junk drawer with stuff just tossed all over the place and you can’t make heads or tails of anything in there.

The good news is that if you are still breathing, then the story isn’t over yet. However chaotic things might seem and feel, however lost you have gotten, God’s Spirit can create goodness out of chaos and put things in order again. The beauty is that once we are aware of the fact that we didn’t see the gorilla, we can go back to the video and watch it again with intentionality. The same is true of your calendar. What you made space for yesterday, what you were seeking with your actions last week, don’t need to be the same things you are seeking tomorrow. If you truly desire to know God better and to deepen your relationship with your family, you can create space for these things by intentionally seeking them today. You can create space in your life for them right now. Then you won’t miss them. What you seek you will find.

Brothers and sisters, may you take a moment to reflect on what truly matters to you. What do you desire at the deepest levels of your being? What needs more space in your life to thrive? What brings you true life and joy? May you make space to reflect on these things and then may you seek them and make space for them so you don’t miss a thing.

^[1]Matthew 7:7 (ESV)