WHAT DO YOU SEE?  2 Kgs 6:8-17

A lot of times, we are afraid of the enemy because we walk by sight and not by faith.  This story is one of seeing the undetectable and achieving the impossible.  The King of Syria was at war against Israel.  He was troubled to learn that whatever plans he made in his chamber, the King of Israel was informed of them and thought there was a spy in his entourage.  One of his servants told him that there was no spy in their midst and it was prophet Elisha whom God revealed everything he purposed in his bed chamber to the King of Israel.  He eventually found out where Elisha was and sent his horsemen and army to bring Elisha to him.

In the morning, when Elisha’s servant saw that they were surrounded by the Syrian army, he was understandably frightened.  2 kgs 6:¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶ He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha

Elisha’s example reminds us of some important truths about perspective.  As children of God, no matter how tough the storm is, that is the time to anchor our faith unto our Lord Jesus.  We are to stand firm in the face of innumerable difficulties of attacks.  This is what the enemy does best, trying to make us feel as if the battle is too big for God when it is not.  Matthew 11:²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Like Elisha, we are to remain calm knowing the God we serve and not fear.  We need to remember that we have an  advocate in our Lord Jesus (1 John 2:1). Sometimes the physical world around us may look dire, full of adversity however that is the time to remind ourselves of Psalm 91:3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  It is important to see through the eyes of our spirit, 2 Corinthians 5:⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight. 

Jesus talked about the importance of our eyes, Matt 6:²³ But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!   Nowadays, we have access to the internet, we look at and see things that are offensive to God.  Let’s learn to listen to that still small voice telling us to not watch or look at a particular thing on whatever device we might be using.  

No matter how challenging life might be, never forget that God is with us and for us.  Of course, we will not see physical armies attacking us but our attack are real nonetheless.  For example, it could be temptation of we watch, other physical temptation, emotional battles and all manner of spiritual enemies coming against us.  Ephesians 6:¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.   

The issue about what we look at and what we see is so important that Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians and said in Eph 1: ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. When we pray, God can reveal things going on in the spiritual realm or He could disclose things to us by having the eyes of our hearts enlightened.

In 1 Pet 3:12, we are reassured about God and his care for us: ¹² For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.  Spiritual attacks are real and sometimes we can feel overwhelmed.  The attack could come in the form of not doing what we should do or what we ought to do.  Instead, we do the opposite of what we should not be doing. 

Don’t lose faith because those that are with us are more than those against us.  Jesus’s disciples at a time asked Jesus to increase their faith.  So pray and ask God to help you with the situation that you are dealing with.  May God open our eyes to behold the wonderful things around us and the battles that he is always fighting on our behalf.

PRAYER POINTS:

Lord caution me anytime that I am going astray.  Lord help me to always pray and not respond to what I see.  Lord let my faith raise over fear.

The paperback version of my books, are available for purchase from Amazon and the e-books are available on www.toladehinde.com :

• Prayer Personified

• Godly Declarations