Seeing the invisible

The prophet Elisha was so in tune with God’s heart that he could see what was invisible.

That is clear from the great story in 2 Kings 6 where Elisha asked God to reveal to the prophet’s fearful servant the armies of angels ready to defend Israel from invaders from neighbouring lands.  God did as he was asked and the servant’s eyes were opened to the armies of angels ready to act at the Lord’s command.

In his book Forever, Paul David Tripp calls on us to see with “eyes of our heart” - a heart committed to God - rather than relying on our earthly eyes.  If we do, he says the way we look at the world and at eternity will change radically.

Tripp quotes the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:18:

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

“If you are ever going to be what God created you to be and do what God designed you to do, you must be constantly alert to the world of spiritual realities,” Tripp writes.

We must be “see” God’s presence, the resources of his grace, the truths he has revealed in scripture, and the reality of everlasting life.

Tripp acknowledges that we may feel this is impractical in our busy lives.

So he suggests that we “begin each day by praying that God would give you the eyes to see the spiritual realities that are beneath the physical things that keep you so busy”.

Then, we are to commit ourselves to open our spiritual eyes to what is going on in our lives.  We must believe that God is at work all the time in our lives - and so is the evil one.

For example, we can see that there is a spiritual battle behind parent-child struggles.  As we see this, we are better able to “parent with endurance and grace”.

Or, if we are disappointed with our friends, we need to see that always we have a relationship with a Saviour who “will never be disloyal or turn his back on us”.

“If our eyes are not focused on the physical, and by grace we are able to see what is spiritual, then we can live for things that are eternal.”

In effect, we realize that our lives at work and at home are not for our immediate pleasure and satisfaction but for something greater - for God and our eternal relationship with him.

To get to this point, we must get to know God through prayer and his word.  We must learn to “see” through his eyes.