Being around Christianity and Christians my entire life I heard, saw, and experienced a lot of different things. Some good, some bad; some miraculous and some questionable, some things confusing as well as outright heart breaking, times of great faith as well as times of emptiness…maybe even times of depression, but that is the human side of pursuing God that many gloss over or refuse to tackle and conquer. One thought or question that circulates in and out of my experiences with others is the question of ‘what is God doing?” or “Where is God in all of this??” or “Why do I not see or feel His presence?” While some of these questions are rhetorical, knowing that God never leaves us, there are a few people that I have met in my life that seem to flow easily from trial to trial, as well as victory to victory. There are those that seem to have a firm grasp of a different perspective or vantage point!!
2 Kings 6:9-17 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the King, so that he was on his guard in such places. This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom. Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, so I can send men and capture him. The report came back: He is in Dothan. Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed, "LORD, please open his eyes so that he may see." The LORD opened the servant's eyes and let him see. The mountain around them was full of fiery horses and chariots surrounding Elisha.
The Kingdom of Israel is at war with the Kingdom of Aram, but the King of Israel seems to be able to predict Aram’s every move. Everywhere Aram’s army goes, Israel is one step ahead–so much so that the King of Aram assumes he has a spy in his camp. But there is no spy; rather, God is speaking to the prophet Elisha and giving him inside information – divine knowledge and divine vision – and Elisha is passing that knowledge on to the King of Israel. When the King of Aram realizes what is happening, he sends his army to find Elisha and capture him. One morning, Elisha’s servant pulls back the curtains and he discovers that their tent is surrounded by Aram’s army. Just as many of us would do in his situation, he calls out in fear and panic, “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” 2 Kings 6:15.
Now we might expect Elisha to come up with a cunning plan to make an undercover exit or to hide somewhere hoping they will not be found, or to hand himself over to make things go as smoothly as possible. Instead, Elisha calmly replies, “Don't be afraid. We have more forces on our side than they have on theirs” 2 Kings 6:16. Elisha’s servant was completely perplexed, so Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” 2 Kings 6:17. God answers Elisha’s prayer, and Elisha’s servant looks out the window to see an army of angels—the entire hillside was covered with horses and chariots of fire. Then, as the Aramean army advanced toward them, Elisha again prayed to the Lord, “Please strike these people with blindness” 2 Kings 6:18. And, again, God answered Elisha’s prayer and struck the great army blind.
Full of confidence and bravado, Elisha walks out to the Arameans and, in their confusion, convinces them that they have arrived at the wrong city. He offers to lead them to the man they are looking for and, since they have not got many choices, the soldiers follow Elisha to the neighboring city of Samaria. He leads them right to the heart of the city, then prays again, “O Lord, now open their eyes and let them see!” 2 Kings 6:20. As their vision returns, they quickly realize that they’ve been duped. The Arameans are now the ones surrounded by Samaria’s army. While this story seems almost humorous as well as miraculous, it also raises a question for us: are you looking at only the things which are seen, or can you see the unseen things?
THE REALITY AND NEARNESS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD. It only took the opening of the eyes, and nothing more, to reveal to this young man the things unseen and probably unsuspected before that moment. We are citizens of two worlds — one material, the other spiritual. We must remind ourselves frequently of this fact: that the world we see is not the only one in which we live.
Out of sight . . . out of mind can be more than just a statement about forgetfulness. It can also be a dangerous and costly spiritual condition. I can remember growing up hearing this statement about church folks . . . "They are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good!" I want to suggest that perhaps in this day and age that the Church has swung to the other side of the spectrum until we have become so consumed with earthly things that in turn we have become unaware of the heavenly things going on around us! We have moved from seeing demons behind every bush and an angel in every hitchhiker to seeing and trusting nothing but what can be touched, smelled, tasted, and seen with natural eyes. Is our world restricted to what we can see? What if there is another dimension? A spiritual realm that we have only heard of . . . yet still only catch glimpses, sadly maybe not seeing it at all. We need to open our eyes and see the unseen.
Unseen does not mean unreal! We need to reaffirm and embrace this truth. We should know this to be true. Just the experiences we read about in scripture, should be enough to stir our faith. From Genesis to Revelation there are at least 300 encounters detailed where the main characters encountered angels or spiritual forces outside our dimension. Adam and Eve, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Daniel, Mary and Joseph, Peter, John, Phillip, and Jesus Himself all knew that there was a dimension that was unseen but very real. We should grasp this due to what we are told in Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
The writer implores us to not only recognize the unseen but interact with it, combat it, and later in verse 18, he tells us to partner with the Spirit when we pray. I want to strongly reassert the reality of the unseen because if we fail to embrace this truth/knowledge the fallout is we will also fail to live differently. Our attention to the natural cannot keep us from paying attention to the supernatural going on around us. The natural will fight for our focus simply because if that becomes our focus we are set up for defeat. Whether we are unaware of our enemy or the forces on our side, if we fail to see them, we ultimately fail! When we cannot see, everything is then based on our limited perception.
An example: Is the glass half-full or half-empty? How you view a situation can change your entire life. We believe when we see things that we are seeing them as they exist. HOW we see things are more often filtered through our beliefs, fears, and life experiences. If we change those filters, turn those negatives into positives, we change our entire life. Perception is everything!! Let us look at three things that have the power to change your perception: I would like to point out that in this story they were unseen but ever-present. These same three things are present in your life and mine, even though they may go unseen or forgotten at times.
GOD’S PRESENCE
When Elisha’s servant looked outside all he saw were enemy soldiers, surrounding them and closing in. Immediately panic set in and fear took over. But when Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes, he suddenly realized that God and the army of angels were on their side. The Bible tells us that God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all the time. David recognized this when he wrote, “Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there” Psalm 139:7-8. Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20.
God is always with us. We cannot escape his presence. But like Elisha’s servant, we at times have some trouble seeing God. That is, we do not always recognize his presence.
GOD’S PROTECTION
The Bible tells us, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them” Psalm 34:7. That’s just what Elisha’s servant saw when he peered out the window. God lifted the veil between the earthly realm and the spiritual realm and allowed him to see an army of angels riding fiery chariots encamped around the unwitting enemy army. Jesus also mentions this massive angel army. When Peter draws his sword to prevent the soldiers from arresting Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus rebukes Peter, saying, “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for twelve legions of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” Matthew 26:53. Twelve legions equal 72,000. That is a lot of angels! Jesus, of course, did not need that protection because He knew it was God’s will to go to the cross, but very often we do need protecting. Especially in perilous times like this, we need to see God’s angels surrounding us, protecting us, and reminding us that God is mightier than any enemy we might face. The problem is, as humans, we want to see God’s protection as a magic force field that keeps us from all harm. Yes, God can prevent any evil or disaster, but we must remember that we live in a fallen world where we have free will. Many times, if not most, God works in ways that we do not understand. Sometimes God's protection comes in the form of peace and strength in the middle of despair. Other times God's protection comes as an ending or a closed-door because He sees something more on the horizon that we cannot see.
Often throughout the Old Testament, God is compared to a strong tower or a mighty fortress. When the Israelites took refuge within Solomon’s fortress or the tower of David, their enemies did not just pack up and go home. They still had the battle to fight. But from within the fortress, they had the advantage. Rather than being easy targets out in the open, they could fight from a position of strength from within the mighty walls. Additionally, they could climb the tower and look down on their enemies, giving them a better vantage point and perspective. God does the same for us. When we turn to God in times of trouble, our problems do not just go away. But we can face those problems from a position of strength, and we can see them from God’s perspective. As a child of God, you can rest knowing that no matter what hardship you face, God is your shelter, your strong tower, and your protector!
GOD IS THE PROTECTOR OF HIS PEOPLE. Was Elisha so much dearer to God's heart than His other children that for him alone the forces of heaven came down to earth? Cannot all God's people say, "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge"? All about us is another, vast and mighty, although invisible and silent. So, God's invisible, innumerable, invincible, defending hosts continually surrounds His people.
GOD’S PROVIDENCE
God’s providence refers to God’s plans and provision. You cannot read 2 Kings 6 without getting a strong sense of God’s providence. As this sequence of unusual events unfolds, it becomes more and more obvious that it was all part of God’s plan. And even though we may not see it or understand it, everything we are going through right now is part of God’s plan too. Well, we can start with prayer just like Elisha did. “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.” Worshipping together will also help us become more aware of God’s presence. But most importantly, we see God through Jesus. The Bible says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15. Jesus is the lens through which we see God. As we read through the four gospels in the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—we will begin to see God more clearly. Often, we know that God is there, but He is blurry and out of focus, obscured by our surroundings and circumstances. But when we focus the lens of faith, through prayer and worship and seeking after Jesus, we start seeing God more and more clearly.
Summary: The Bible encourages us to “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” 2 Corinthians 4:18. That is just what Elisha does in 2 Kings 6. What does he see that we often do not?
Plans are funny things. Most of the time, we make them, even though we are not really the ones who control their outcomes. Sure, we can do our best to try and make them happen, but so much of our world—and our lives—are dictated by things outside of our control. Just when you think you have got life figured out; something happens that throws a curve ball or places a detour into your plans. Whether it is a consequence of something we have done or simply circumstances that are out of our control. Suddenly plans change—and sometimes, they totally disappear.
Often the reason life does not go according to plan is that God has other plans, and his plans supersede ours. James knows all about that. In the New Testament, he writes to Christians scattered across the Roman empire: Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it is here a little while, then it is gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." Otherwise, you are boasting about your pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16
Plans can be good, but when our whole life is shaped around our plans, we can become so focused on accomplishing them. When all is going as planned, they can become our security and confidence, and we lose sight of God. Too often, our lives are dedicated to serving our agendas. The Bible says, "You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail” Proverbs 19:21. The best thing we can do when looking to the future or when life does not go according to plan is let God be God. Align your life with His plans. Instead of trying to fit God into our plans, we need to fit into His. But the truth is—God is always in control and his plans are never thwarted. So, it may be hard to see, but let us look for God’s providence in the middle of all circumstances. After all that is a choice that each of us can choose to make.
Conclusion: When Elisha’s servant first looked out the window that morning, he could not see God’s presence, protection, or providence. He could only see peril and problems. Consequently, he was petrified and panic-stricken. Maybe you can relate. When we find ourselves in a climate of fear and uncertainties, we need to learn to look not at the things which are seen, but the things that are unseen. Like Elisha, we need to see God’s presence, God’s protection, and God’s providence. Let us pray “O Lord open my eyes and let me see.” And let us pray for others, that God may open their eyes and give them comfort, courage and hope for whatever life may throw in their direction.
“Have your Eyes been Opened
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