Lenten Devotions - Day 08
“‘Don’t be afraid,’ Elisha answered. ‘There are more troops on our side than on theirs.’ Then he prayed, ‘Yahweh, please help him to see.’ And Yahweh let the servant see that the hill was covered with fiery horses and flaming chariots all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:16-17
Things are not always as they appear. It seems I have heard that refrain in some form repeatedly in various books, movies, and TV shows. Though we use the idea with fiction and imaginative fantasy, it is also a deeper reality of the physical and spiritual world in which we live. Political mantras and rhetoric do not always follow the realities they claim to define or interpret. Those we believe to speak truth may themselves be deceived. Our pet understandings of science or history may indeed prove to be false on closer inspection.
Gaining a clear grasp of reality is not a simple exercise. We are not omniscient creatures, nor are we gifted with a simplistic portrayal of all truth in the Scriptures. Rather, here we are instructed to seek God with all our heart in order to truly find him. Jesus will tell us that he spoke in parables in order that they crowds might NOT understand and then be held accountable. Faith, understanding, and knowing God and seeing God in action are part of a journey that must be taken in sincerity and with the commitment to allow God to reveal spiritual truth on God’s own terms.
Our first thought might be that we need to see. We desperately need to see God and what God is doing around us. This may not be quite true, however. It is not normal in the Bible for even the heroes of faith to see with Elisha’s perception and live on the basis of a heavenly powered sight. Faith, after all, is not so much about knowing, but about trusting even when we do not know. It is about following when we cannot see the one who leads. It is about overcoming fear when there is every reason to fear, not simply when fear is vanquished.
Elisha could see what Yahweh was doing, yet his servant remained blind. Elisha saw, but he had first been brought to believe and trust before God had taught him to see. The enemy soldiers remained blind to the reality of God’s presence and action. This kind of perception of God’s presence and action is not for the uninitiated, but for those who truly seek to know God and follow God’s leading despite the evidence of visible reality. It is a journey of learning trust.
Elisha does pray for God to grant new sight to his servant here. Perhaps more importantly, we need the faith to accept that God is in control, present, and active, despite what we are able to see. Which is the greater faith, after all: a faith which sees things as they are, or the faith that trusts God without regard for appearance or vision at all? Are we willing to follow God even while still blind?
Seek out that one thing you know to be God’s will, yet can’t see how appearances make it possible. Trust God to be present and active, regardless of appearances and circumstances.
“Lord, make me more aware of your presence and action. More than that, however, make me confident in you, regardless of the limitations of my sight.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
Things are not always as they appear. It seems I have heard that refrain in some form repeatedly in various books, movies, and TV shows. Though we use the idea with fiction and imaginative fantasy, it is also a deeper reality of the physical and spiritual world in which we live. Political mantras and rhetoric do not always follow the realities they claim to define or interpret. Those we believe to speak truth may themselves be deceived. Our pet understandings of science or history may indeed prove to be false on closer inspection.
Gaining a clear grasp of reality is not a simple exercise. We are not omniscient creatures, nor are we gifted with a simplistic portrayal of all truth in the Scriptures. Rather, here we are instructed to seek God with all our heart in order to truly find him. Jesus will tell us that he spoke in parables in order that they crowds might NOT understand and then be held accountable. Faith, understanding, and knowing God and seeing God in action are part of a journey that must be taken in sincerity and with the commitment to allow God to reveal spiritual truth on God’s own terms.
Our first thought might be that we need to see. We desperately need to see God and what God is doing around us. This may not be quite true, however. It is not normal in the Bible for even the heroes of faith to see with Elisha’s perception and live on the basis of a heavenly powered sight. Faith, after all, is not so much about knowing, but about trusting even when we do not know. It is about following when we cannot see the one who leads. It is about overcoming fear when there is every reason to fear, not simply when fear is vanquished.
Elisha could see what Yahweh was doing, yet his servant remained blind. Elisha saw, but he had first been brought to believe and trust before God had taught him to see. The enemy soldiers remained blind to the reality of God’s presence and action. This kind of perception of God’s presence and action is not for the uninitiated, but for those who truly seek to know God and follow God’s leading despite the evidence of visible reality. It is a journey of learning trust.
Elisha does pray for God to grant new sight to his servant here. Perhaps more importantly, we need the faith to accept that God is in control, present, and active, despite what we are able to see. Which is the greater faith, after all: a faith which sees things as they are, or the faith that trusts God without regard for appearance or vision at all? Are we willing to follow God even while still blind?
Seek out that one thing you know to be God’s will, yet can’t see how appearances make it possible. Trust God to be present and active, regardless of appearances and circumstances.
“Lord, make me more aware of your presence and action. More than that, however, make me confident in you, regardless of the limitations of my sight.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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