Chapter 2: The Veil
The Every Day Supernatural
Chapter 2: The Veil
One of the most shocking supernatural experiences that crashes into every day life is when God removes the spiritual veil from a new believer’s eyes. We can see this clearly in those who least expect it.
Forrest Frank, a prominent musician and passionate follower of Jesus, began every show on his Child of God tour by playing the testimony of his grandfather, Dr. Neil Frank. Central to Neil’s testimony is this supernatural eye-opening. In his words:
Several years ago, I came out of church one Sunday morning. Met an airline pilot. He asked me a very simple question.
He said, ‘What are you really doing here?’
I thought for a minute and I said, ‘Well, we got small children. And we think it’s important that they be in Sunday School.’
He said, ‘If there’s something here for them, don’t you think there might be something here for you?’
How dare this guy challenge me on what I was doing every morning!
But I went home, and after the anger subsided, I became more rational. And if I was honest with you tonight, I’m telling you I set out to prove that there was no God so that I could go to the golf course on Sunday morning and not have my conscience bother me.
But one day in frustration driving down I-95, going to work. I just looked up and said, ‘God, I confess that I’m a sinner. If that’s what selfishness is, then I’m a sinner.’ And I asked Christ to come into my life.
And you know what happened? Nothing.
I didn’t see any angels.
I didn’t hear the Heavenly choir.
I didn’t have any sense of peace, I just puttered on down the road. Went to work.
Got home that night, I’d almost forgot about the incident. And I picked up my Bible — see, I’m still trying to prove there’s no God.
And somebody messed with my book.
Somebody messed with my book!
I understood things that I didn’t understand the night before.
It says in the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians: “there is a veil over the eyes of the unbeliever that they can not discern the truth.”
But it says in the third chapter, when you turn in repentance, that veil is lifted.
And that veil was lifted.
And I became a new creature in Christ Jesus.
And my — you bet there was a change in my life!
A change in my value system.
A change in my understanding.
And certainly a change in my concept of this person of Christ.
Have you had your veil lifted tonight? (“What Living Is All About”)
Podcaster George Janko and his wife Shauna attended one of these concerts, later hosting Forrest on their podcast. Shauna echoed Neil’s experience, saying:
I love what he says that after he had his moment with God, and he kind of forgot that moment, he comes back, he reads his Bible and he’s like, ‘Did somebody change my Bible? Did someone mess with my book? I can understand it now!’
And man, I looked at George, I was like, I’ve felt that — that difference. And it wasn’t that long ago, maybe like what, three years ago? I had that difference of, you’re reading it, you don’t really understand it. And then all of a sudden submitting yourself to the Lord and asking Him to give you understanding, and then read and being like, ‘I understand what He’s saying!’ (Episode 114: The Forrest Frank Interview)
This veil covers the eyes of all unbelievers. It’s not a physical veil, or even a mental one — there was no change in Neil’s or Shauna’s intellect. They were equally as smart before the veil was lifted as after.
This veil is entirely supernatural. It is a spiritual blinder that prevents a person from understanding the Scriptures.
This is not a human veil. It doesn’t appear from humans speaking in code, or being deliberately vague so as to confuse those who aren’t part of the “in” crowd. This veil is spiritual, and clouds the minds of those who don’t believe, even when our speech is perfectly clear:
We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2–4, NIV).
This might seem unfair. How can you blame an unbeliever for not believing when they can’t see the truth?
The reason is simple: they can take off the veil.
As Neil said, 2 Corinthians 3 states this directly: “Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16, NIV).
You can see this in both Neil’s and Shauna’s testimonies. Neil’s veil fell off the moment he confessed his sin to God. Shauna’s veil disappeared when she submitted herself to God and asked Him to enable her to understand.
Both times, the veil dropped when they chose to turn to God — confessing, submitting, humbling, praying. This principle appears constantly in the Scriptures. James talks about it by saying, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8 ESV).
You make the first move.
You choose to draw near to God.
Once you do, God responds. The veil drops. Your spiritual eyes open.
This veil clouds the minds of unbelievers — those who have not yet chosen to believe in God enough to draw near to Him. Neil knew a lot of things about God, even to the point of knowing it was good for his kids to be in Sunday school. He studied the Bible personally, trying to prove God didn’t exist so he could ease his conscience.
He knew a lot about God.
But he hadn’t yet drawn near to God.
As soon as he did draw near — as soon as he confessed his sin directly to God — the veil fell away. God made him new. His entire life changed because he finally drew near to the God he knew so much about.
If you’ve ever wondered why someone can’t understand the Gospel or the things you tell them from the Bible, this is why. They can’t see. No matter how well you explain these truths, they can’t see them through their veil.
This veil is real.
It’s supernatural.
It can be removed.
Every day.
If you want it to.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
If the Scriptures always seem confusing to you, if the Bible has never come alive to you, if you never feel like you’ve met God in the Word, the veil might still be covering your eyes. You might know a lot about God. You may even have been in church a lot. But if you still feel like something is keeping you from understanding, it might be time to draw near.
Take this chance to pray. Confess to God that you are a sinner and that you want to be closer to Him. Confess that you can’t make sense of all this without Him. Ask Him to open your eyes and help you to understand.
If you’ve never felt that veil fall away, now is your chance.
Pray with the Psalmist: “Open my eyes that I might behold the wondrous things out of Your law!” (Psalm 119:19 ESV).