As husbands go, mine is great at cleaning. He will clean anything that he can see.
Sometimes I start to clean a room, and he’ll say:
“I already cleaned it, so why are you cleaning again?”
To which I ask,
“Did you clean under the rugs, cushions, and bed?”
And he replies that it isn’t necessary because no one looks there.
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What We Can’t See
As science teacher, I taught kids to see the unseen. For example:
• Look through microscopes at a drop of pond water
• Study light wavelengths: Infrared, Ultra Violet, X-rays
• Learn about the eyesight of bees and other animals
I showed them there is so much more than what human eyes can detect.
One of my favorite lessons was about air pressure—an invisible force we can’t see but deeply feel. I loved demonstrating it with the egg-in-the-bottle trick: a boiled egg mysteriously pops into a bottle with no visible force. We explored how planes fly by shaping their wings just right to harness the Bernoulli effect.
Even this iPad I’m typing on functions because of what we cannot see. It will transmit this message to your device through the invisible.
Humans visually perceive but a pinpoint on the map of the universe.
The universe is so much bigger than what our 20/20s can detect.
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The Link Between Science and Faith
In my opinion, the unseen is the link between science and religion.
Those who study science are among the closest to understanding God—not because of certainty, but because they’ve trained their minds to look beyond their vision.
Many great scientists—Newton, Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Einstein, Faraday, Mendel, Planck, Heisenberg, and Boyle—were believers. They understood the limits of what their eyes could show them and reached toward something deeper.
The unseen isn’t limited to atoms, bacteria, and pressure systems.
The Bible speaks of the unseen:
• Thoughts and motivations
• Love and hate
• Mercy and forgiveness
If we live only by what we can see, we’re living blindfolded. It’s time to untie the bandana and look for what’s really there.
Rediscovering the Unseen
We say we believe, but rarely do we pause long enough to encounter our unseen God.
We live as if this is all there is. That “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” mindset causes us to forget the real power moving beneath the surface of everything.
We wake up, hustle from task to task, fall into bed exhausted…
and then we do it all over again—without ever connecting to what truly matters.
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So How Do We Break the Cycle?
Be still.
Create margin.
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What Is Margin?
Think of a book.
Margin is the space around the page that lets your eyes rest.
Without it, reading would be overwhelming and exhausting. Though it seems like wasted space, it’s what gives the story its rhythm.
Margin is an overlooked necessity.
And it’s just as essential in life as it is on the page.
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Living With Margin
We need time in our day to do absolutely nothing.
Not a Disney World vacation.
Not an appointment.
Not a checklist.
Margin is an agenda without an agenda.
It’s time set aside to notice the unseen—
the breeze, the heartbeat, the whisper of God.
It doesn’t require your eyes.
It can happen while walking, running, sitting… even with your eyes closed.
(Maybe that’s why we traditionally close our eyes to pray—
to shut out the visible world and lean into the invisible.)
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What Can You Do With Margin?
• Sit quietly with your thoughts
• Laugh and talk with a friend
• Listen for what your Creator might be saying
• Ask Him questions
• Do nothing—and be okay with it
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Why Margin Matters
Margin is ignored far too often, yet it’s so important to our sanity.
It slows us down.
It softens the noise.
It reveals the hidden world of faith, hope, and love.
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Your Invitation
Maybe it’s time to schedule that unscheduled time slot.
Not because you need another task—but because your soul needs space.
Let margin reveal the unseen.
