Day 3: Defense and support
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. (2 Kings 6:17).
Heavenly Father, Infinite, Omniscient God, You have given us intelligence and a great capacity for knowledge. But it is limited, for we can never attain a fraction of Your storehouses of knowledge and wisdom— such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain (Psalm 139:6).
In our pilgrimage through this life, we only see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). In Your great wisdom and goodness You withhold from us knowledge that is too weighty and difficult for us (John 16:12). But You give us all we need to clearly understand that the "realities" of this life are a part of a greater reality in the spiritual realm, and You instruct us by Your word and by the power of Your Spirit to ensure that we are not unaware (2 Corinthians 2:11).
Often, though, our eyes and our senses are so trained on the circumstances and the distractions of this world, that we miss the unseen. But it is on these more important realities that You desire us to focus: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Yet, how much like Elisha's servant we are, panicked and paralyzed, terror-stricken and traumatized by what we see around us. We look at power, and size, volume, and vastness, all in the natural, and we forget that You have told us, no king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. We forget that You have told us, that the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine (Psalm 33:16, 18-19).
Open [our] eyes Lord, so that [we] may see (2 Kings 6:17). Calm our fears with the knowledge that the strength and size of the threats of this world are nothing compared to the mighty defenses and supports of heaven— that "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16).
Give us the vision, the faith, and the confidence of Elisha— the unshakeable trust in a God who can open the eyes of His people, and blind the eyes of the enemy (2 Kings 6:18).
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Refrain:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
~ Clara H. Scott ~ pub. 1895
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