That He May See

Sight should never dictate your faith.  The prayer in this text is that a person’s eyes be opened for him to see. He needed to realize that he didn’t have to worry about what he saw.

Sight does not define God. He’s God regardless if we see him or not. Look at what you don’t look at, what’s right out of view. What could you see if you looked long enough? Sometimes we want to be a couch potato Christian and have it all brought to us; it doesn’t work that way. We must get up and get on with life realizing the army we see may be awful, but the one we don’t see is far greater.

II Kings 6:15 “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”

Do you believe verse 16? Are you willing to drop your own thoughts and see what’s there? Elisha saw what was already there because God let him see. There is more to life than what we see. Think about sight. It is limited. We only see in our own range of vision, our own field of view. What is out and who is out of our normal vision is still there.

The King of Syria declared war against Israel. He gathered his generals and made a plan to snare Israel at certain places they were sure to pass through, but when the day dawned they were surprisingly met by the army of Israel! This happened many times. No matter what battle plan they conceived, it didn’t work.  He was at his wits end. Finally the king asked his servants who was spy among them. One spoke up and said it was none of them, but he also gave him the answer to the problem.  “Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” God spoke to Elisha, and he in turn told the king of Israel where he should not take the army.

Immediately the king knew he must capture Elisha. He found out he was in Dothan; they planned to take him out the next morning. He gathered his warriors to complete the plan. He sent “thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.”  The king thought that if he couldn’t get Israel, he’d get their prophet. If they could seal him off, they’d win the battle.

Isn’t this exactly how the devil tries us? Just as the king did Israel, the devil comes at us every which way he can. He’ll try every strategy there is. For things to be real, they don’t have to be seen. The devil has come to us in some way or another since we’ve been saved. He may try to cripple us spiritually, mentally, physically, or socially…and on and on…. To be effective, there must be a visible form of what he does and each of these can be seen in some way or another. God doesn’t have to be visible. We can succumb to something smaller than God if we choose.  You may say “but this problem is bigger than I am!”  Of course it is. You cannot lift one finger without the Lord. Your next breath is in his hand. You can’t even drive home.  “Oh, I’m a skilled driver.” Don’t be so confident. You might fall asleep or get distracted or get in the way of something or someone and be killed. It’s God that lets you even drive safely.

The next morning Elisha’s servant woke early. When he began moving about, he looked out to see the city compassed with Syrian horses and chariots. It scared him to death.  He ran unto his Elisha and said “alas, my master! how shall we do?” In reply Elisha simply said “fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. “ Verse 17 says “and Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”  God’s army was there to protect and fight for them.

It’s time we quit living within the realm of our nearsightedness. It’s time to pray for the Lord to open our eyes so we can see what is in the realm of what we can’t see. Someone else is in control of it all. In order for us to see we must open our eyes. I’m afraid that we keep them closed much of the time. The carnal way in which many live closes their hearts to God and their eyes along with it.

Remember when you were first saved. You looked at things differently. God had just saved you from hell. He opened your eyes to a new life, but somewhere along the way you closed them. Now burdens weigh you down. Sin weighs you down. Anger, or whatever it may be, has gotten you down.  Elisha prayed. That prayer rings across time bringing a prayer for this moment to us for our eyes to be opened.

Look around. See what’s there.  Sure, we’ll see the devil’s antics, but remember HE THAT IS WITH US IS MORE THAN THEY THAT BE WITH HIM!

Open your eyes..the eyes of your soul, and see.