Seeing and Not Seeing

SEEING AND NOT SEEING

This story shows us how differently we can live our lives if we see things as they truly are in the realm of the spirit and not shrouded by darkness, the darkness of the world. The story, from 2 Kings ch.6, starts off with the king of Syria trying to plot his misguided strategies of war against Israel. Every time he plans to ambush Israel’s army in a certain place, Elisha is told by God what is going on and he warns the king of Israel so that he is always ready for action.

2Kings 6:17 Once when the king of Syria was at war with Israel, he told his officers to mobilize their forces at such and such a place (naming the place). Immediately Elisha warned the king of Israel, "Don't go near such and such a place (naming the same place) for the Syrians are planning to mobilize their troops there!"
The king sent a scout to see if Elisha was right, and sure enough, he had saved him from disaster. This happened several times.
The king of Syria was puzzled. He called together his officers and demanded, "Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel about my plans?"
"It's not us, sir, “one of the officers replied. “Elisha, the prophet, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!"
"Go and find out where he is, and we'll send troops to seize him, “the king exclaimed.
And the report came back, “Elisha is at Dothan."
So one night the king of Syria sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city of Dothan. When the prophet's servant got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere.
"Oh no Master, what shall we do now? “he cried out to Elisha.
"Don't be afraid! “Elisha told him. for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them. “Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open his eyes and let him see! “And the Lord opened the young man's eyes so that he could see horses and chariots of fire everywhere upon the mountain!
As the Syrian army advanced upon them, Elisha prayed, “Lord, please make them blind. “And he did.
Then Elisha went out and told them, “You’ve come the wrong way! This isn't the right city! Follow me and I will take you to the man you're looking for. “And he led them to Samaria!
As soon as they arrived Elisha prayed, “Lord, now open their eyes and let them see. “And the Lord did, and they discovered that they were in Samaria, the capital city of Israel! (at that time)
When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, “Shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?"
"Of course not! “Elisha told him. “Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again."
So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their king. And after that the Syrian raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.

This story of Elisha defending Israel from the attacks of the Syrian army unveils the activity of God in the world of the unseen against the enemy of darkness. God opened the eyes of Elisha to this supernatural realm to show him that God was in command of the earthly activity and that he would guide Elisha step by step to fulfill his Heavenly purpose for his people.
The Bible tells us that we can be made aware of the tactics of our enemy the devil, and so prevent our minds and hearts from being emotionally overwhelmed by darkness and deception and fear. That understanding is of great encouragement to our faith especially in these present troubling times of global pandemic.

 2Cor2:11 so that we are not outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Darkness will try to introduce fear which is a spiritual power. Fear fires up peoples’ imaginations and brings confusion and incites suspicion and division and unforgiveness. The devil tries to hijack the emotions to disrupt a normally ordered soul where it can go into reaction and become suspicious and fearful rather than trusting in God and acting wisely.

There are some things about seeing and not seeing that are worth knowing.
Only God knows what is really going on in the realm of both the seen and the unseen.
The devil does not know the future (if he did why let Jesus die on the cross).
The devil cannot read our minds. (2chron ch.6)  
The devil can blind our minds by getting us into emotional reactions such as resentment, anxiety, fear, deception concerning half-truths and conspiracy theories, and harsh criticism of people who do not share the same opinions. 
These reactions do not help to solve the problem at hand, and they end up causing more emotional and mental and spiritual unrest than the problem itself.
What does help is adopting a new mindset of faith in God (repentance).
We can learn to consciously redirect our faith to the reality of God’s command over the situation and his supernatural work on our behalf in the world of the unseen. 

Just as the prophet told his servant that there was a greater army with them than there was against them. Elisha had to pray that God would open the eyes of his servant to see the work of God in the unseen realm.
The Bible tells us ‘Greater is he who is within you than he who is in the world (1John 4:4). 
He that is within us is Jesus working with us through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is our strength and he has overcome the darkness of the power of the world and only he can help us us to see what is happening as he sees it - in the unseen realm. God has not only allowed this global pandemic but he is using it to bring darkness and deception and corruption to the surface like never before in history. Everything will get to be seen for what it is as the Holy Spirit shines light upon the darkness and deception that is causing so much of the current chaos and disorder being seen in the world today. 
He that is in the world is Satan who brings darkness and chaos and disorder into this world to blind it to the reality of the supernatural work of God that he does on behalf of those who believe. 

We are being called to stand still and see the salvation of The Lord.
We can learn to quietly calm our souls and resist fear - and find faith.
We can learn to resist the ambush of our emotions and order our minds.
We can receive God’s love and wisdom into our hearts. (1John 4:18, 1Corinthians 1:30).

God’s love in our hearts will be seen through the practical caring or comforting response we can give to someone in distress in these present difficulties. It is also seen in our non combative response if we are personally criticised for our position on how we manage the current difficulties based on our faithfulness to God and to one another.

God’s wisdom in our heart will be seen through our personal responsibility in making decisions that support the well-being of others, especially those that are vulnerable. 

God blinded the eyes of Elisha’s enemies so that they went into confusion and lost their way and had to give up their misguided plans as a lost cause.
God opened the eyes of Elisha to what he was doing in the overall scheme of his purpose for Israel, and Elisha’s request was granted in opening the eyes of his friend who could not see what God was doing.
This empowerment of God’s grace to us of having our eyes opened by God to see what he is doing and what darkness is doing is being given to us in these days as we faithfully wait upon God and trust him to have his way with us and through us in these troubled times. As God opens our eyes he will give us the prayer of faith to see eyes being opened in those in our world that we bring before him. In quietness and confidence will be your strength.