Seeing the unseen: Ultimate Reality

When you wake up in the morning, you might go to your window and look out to check the sky. Or you might pray and then listen to the weather forecast so that you can get an idea of what to wear to face the day ahead. When you look out of the window, what are you expecting to see? In most cases, it will be the street in which you live and possibly parked vehicles – a regular routine view from the window. What would it be like for you to wake up one morning and see tanks and armoured vehicles stationed outside your door? Would you panic? Certainly you would realise that this was a life-threatening situation and not a social visit. The truth is every day we are faced with situations, which are beyond our control. Elisha’s servant woke up early and saw the terrifying sight of the Syrian army surrounding the city of Dothan, in which they were living. What had brought the armies to the city? Israel was at war with Syria and the Lord had been giving Elisha special intelligence regarding the plans of the Syrian army. This information was conveyed to the king of Israel and the king was able to take pre-emptive action against the Syrians on several occasions, when they came to raid Israel. The Syrian king was frustrated by the repeated defeats and suspected that there was an informer within his household. The servants told the king that Elisha told the king of Israel the details of conversations held in the king’s bedroom. On learning that the informer was actually God’s prophet in Israel, the Syrian king sent a battalion of soldiers in a show of strength to let Elisha know not to mess with him because he meant business. What seems to have escaped the king’s attention is that if God could make Elisha aware of the conversations being held in the palace, He was more than able to forewarn Elisha of the impending arrival of the Syrian army. Elisha’s servant, however, was unaware of this and his response was to panic. When you are faced with an army of problems, what do you do? Elisha’s servant ran back to the house and woke Elijah with the words, “Alas, my master, what are we going to do?” Elisha’s response was calm, “Don’t be afraid because those who are with us are more than those who are with them”‘. Then he prayed, “Lord, I am asking you, open his eyes so that he can see,” And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha,” (2 Kings 6: 8-17). We are threatened by problems every day, sometimes without being aware of it. However just as we may lack awareness of the challenges facing us, too often when we gain this insight, we are overwhelmed with fear and we can forget that God’s protection is there, even though we cannot see it. Elisha had this assurance, so he was able to sleep late, even with the Syrian army approaching under cover of night. Can you sleep late when you know what sort of day or week lies ahead? Is your sleep deep and sound because you know that God is able to deal with anything? Do you have the calm presence of mind to be able to say to those panicking around you, “Don’t be afraid because God is handling this?” Elisha was able to see the invisible, so he was not afraid. Only prayer can open our eyes to the spiritual reality that God is with us, surrounding us with His angels to protect us. As you face the inevitable armies of your life and your enemies park their tanks outside your house in a show of force; don’t panic, pray. And God will open the eyes of everyone around you to His reality, which is the ultimate reality. God has an encampment of angels around those who trust Him and He will deliver them (Psalm 34:7).