Spiritual Eyes - April 22nd, 2009

2 Kings 6:15-17 - “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, 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.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” We live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor.5:7) but unfortunately, as long as I have eyes and a brain, my sight struggles for control. Like Elisha’s servant, we know theoretically that God is sufficient but then try to make the math work out in our heads. It is easy to say I trust God and then set my hope on human beings who I believe could solve the problem. When we come to a place where no visible solution is available, hopelessness inevitably sneaks in. That’s actually a good thing though. God has to bring me to the end of all false hope in order for me to recognize the only true hope. He effectively pulls the rug out from under me to keep me from stumbling. My hope for healing can’t be in doctors. My hope for provision can’t be in riches. My hope for peace can’t be in the government. I must trust God rather than men (Ps.118:8-9). My confidence must be in Him, not in my own solutions (Pr.3:5-6). If I’m to walk by faith, I must close my physical eyes, ignoring the odds and look instead at an invisible hope (2 Cor.4:18) asking God to open my spiritual eyes that I might truly see (Ps.119:18). I desperately need what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in 3:14-19, the faith and ability to grasp and understand His surpassing sufficiency. I need to do my part, being faithful with what He has called me to, but then, I must back away and trust the results to Him (Pr.21:31). “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has in store for those who love Him.” (1 Cor.2:9). It is precisely when I see no possible way that God then makes the way. God has to convince me it’s over to show me it’s not. I am in a life process of relationship with Him based on trust and that requires learning to see with spiritual eyes. Some trust in physical remedies, foreseeable answers or expected provision, “but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Ps.20:7). He is “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” (Rom.4:17).