In 2 Kings 6:8-17, Elisha the prophet seems to be in trouble. He has been telling the king of Israel every move that the Syrian army is making before they make it. This frustrates the king of Syria so much that he sends an entire army after one man — Elisha! Elisha’s servant gets up in the morning and is shocked to see that the Syrian army has surrounded them. He goes with great fear to warn Elisha. The prophet of God simply responds to his servant with, “Fear not, there are more with us than are with them.” I can only imagine how dumfounded the servant felt. I’m sure he thought, “Well, I can count, and I see two of us and thousands of them.” Elisha then prays that the Lord would open the spiritual eyes of his servant (v. 17). The Lord answers his prayer, and the servant sees that the mountains are filled with horses and chariots of fire from the Lord!
The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we are to walk by faith and not by sight in this life. We all have two sets of eyes and two sets of ears. We have our physical eyes and ears that take in information around us in the physical realm. We also have spiritual eyes and ears that are to see what God shows us and hear what God tells us. So, when it comes to the things of God, there is no such thing as stepping out in “blind faith.” Dr. Lester Sumrall used to say, “Faith begins where the will and Word of God is known.” While we may not physically see or hear anything, by His Spirit we are actually seeing and hearing something far greater…THE WILL OF GOD!
In Revelation 2-3, Jesus speaks to the seven churches of Asia. These were real churches that had real issues! Jesus brings correction and re-direction to five of the seven churches. He commends two of them, but after each one, He says the same thing: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Jesus says, I need you to HEAR DIFFERENTLY. In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul prays that the church would SEE DIFFERENTLY. If you see what God sees and hear what God hears, it will never look or sound like what the world sees and hears!
Over the past two years, much of what we have seen and heard has been bad news filled with fear. As pastors, my wife and I have continually encouraged everyone to be careful who they are listening to and what they are watching. Feeding on the negativity and lies of the spirit of this world will only fill us with fear and cause us to make decisions based on what the spirit of this world is saying and not on what God is saying. What God says is never popular with the world. But as Christians, we are not of this world. Listening to what God says will build faith and secure victory in the end!
I encourage you to read and pray these two powerful prayers of the Apostle Paul every day of your life: Ephesians 1:17-23 and Colossians 1:9-14. In these prayers, Paul prays that the Church (that means you!) would be filled with a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him and the eyes of your understanding would be flooded with light. He prays that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
You are not in darkness and confusion. You are of the kingdom of light. God is not playing games with you. You are not a rat trapped in a maze. Just like Elisha, you will see and hear the will of God in every circumstance and face it in REAL FAITH. You will not shrink back in fear and quit. You will walk in mountain moving faith conquering your enemies!
