“…as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal”. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
There’s a great story recorded in 2 Kings Ch 6. At this time the king of Syria was at war with Israel but his plans were being constantly thwarted by Elisha’s prophetic insight. The king gets so frustrated that he sends horses, chariots and a ‘great army’ to capture the Prophet. This great Syrian army comes by night and surrounds the entire city where Elisha lived. The next morning Elisha’s servant rises early to find a great army camping on their doorstep. In a state of panic he rushes back to Elisha crying out ‘what shall we do’? I imagine Elisha at this point sitting quietly, perhaps enjoying his morning coffee in his favourite chair, a picture of perfect peace. With a mischievous grin he turns to his servant saying, ‘Why are you afraid?’. Why am I afraid, thinks the servant, why do you think I am afraid?, there’s an entire army sitting on our doorstep! Elisha continues, ‘those who are with us are more than those who are with them, Lord would you open his eyes’. The Lord opens the eyes of the servant who instantly sees the mountains all around them full of horses and chariots of fire.
There is a greater reality beyond our reality. In 2 Corinthians Paul encourages us to look not to the things that are seen, which are transient, temporary and passing away, and look to the things that are unseen, which are eternal. There's no doubt that there is always the ‘seen’ things of life in front of us. Jobs to do, tasks to accomplish, mouths to feed, mountains to climb, battles to fight. Yet in the midst of the ‘seen’ things how much of our time is spent looking to the ‘unseen’ reality beyond this reality. There may be an army camped at your doorstep but there is a greater reality than what's in front of you, if we will just have eyes to see it.
I believe we are in a time when the Lord is desiring to open our eyes to His reality. There’s much in front of us that can easily consume our attention. His invitation is to look past the ‘seen’ to the things that are ‘unseen’. He is wanting to align our hearts with His heart, that we might then partner with His purposes on the earth at this critical time. My prayer is that we would be a people who have eyes to see the greater reality of the King and His Kingdom. Lord would you open our eyes again!
Blessings
Andrew