2 Kings 6:17 (NIV)
17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” 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.
I recently paid a visit to the optometrist. I had not had my eyes checked for several years. I knew my eyes had changed. I just didn’t know how much they had changed. When my new glasses arrived on a Friday afternoon, I tried them on and was immediately impressed. On this particular day I was working from home, so I took the glasses off and replaced them with my “old man” readers and continued my work day. The next morning, my wife and I headed out to a farmer’s market. We visit the farmer’s market on a regular basis. I had been to this particular market many times. As I strolled the sidewalk proudly wearing my new glasses, I was amazed by what I could now see clearly. There were signs and places I was now seeing very clearly for the first time in years. I knew they were there. My eyes are not that bad, but the clarity with which I was now seeing made me laugh. While my wife and niece shopped and visited with one another, I was scanning the landscape trying to figure out if the signs I was seeing were new or had been there for a long time. Even going up and down steps, I had to be careful. Everything seemed so much closer. At one point, I silently told myself, “Allen, you dummy. Why did you wait so long to have your eyes checked?” This new view had been available to me all along, I just had not invested the time and money to make it happen.
Like all new converts, I immediately wanted others to enjoy the new perspective. “Karen, you need to schedule an appointment to have your eyes checked. Maybe when we get home, you can go online and start making it happen.”
Please note, I did not call my wife a dummy. I reserve that title for myself. A couple of days later, I checked in again. “Have you scheduled your eye exam yet?” I can be quite persistent once I know the truth.
Now, armed with brand new eyes, I want to look at our “Spiritual Eyes”. How do we look at things?
Jeremiah 1:10–11 (NKJV)
10See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
I don’t want to focus so much on the particular prophesy, but I want you to notice, the Lord first tells Jeremiah what to see, and then asks him, “What do you see?” It’s almost like a divine “pop quiz”. Here is what you should see, but what do you see? Jeremiah follows up with, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Again, I don’t want to focus on the prophesy at this time, but look now at the Lord’s response back to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1:12 (NKJV)
12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”
“You have seen well.” The NIV says, “You have seen correctly.” That begs the question, if I can see correctly, can I also see incorrectly? If I can see well, can I also have clouded vision?
I am challenged almost every time I am called to the hospital to pray for someone. Most times I go having already heard the outcome from the Lord. I know what His Word says, and I know His voice. In my heart, I am ready for the Lord to bring His Word to pass. Once you enter the hospital room and your natural eyes take in the circumstances, the battle can begin.
I am thinking of a time I was called to the hospital. I heard the Lord clearly say, “He is going to be okay.” When I went into the ICU unit, I was immediately met by his Grandmother.
“Pastor Allen, is he going to be okay?”
“Yes, he will be fine.”
“Did the Lord tell you he was going to be okay?”
“Yes, the Lord said he will be okay.”
“That settles it then,” she said.
The young man’s mother than asked me to go back into the ICU room to pray for him. I was not prepared for what I saw. The young man was attached to every imaginable machine. He was laying on the bed in a coma. The only other person in the ICU unit offered no hope whatsoever. Having a job to do, I walked over to the young man and began to declare the Word over him.
“I just want you to know, the Word of God says God has a plan and a purpose for you. Your life does not end this way.”
After releasing the Word into him, there was no noticeable change. To tell you the truth, I was a little shaken by what I saw. As I exited the ICU room, I was met by his mother.
“Pastor Allen, what do you think? Is he going to be okay?”
At that moment, I was not sure of what I thought.
I heard the Lord say, “Tell her he is going to be okay.”
I quickly said to the Lord, “You tell her.”
He said, “Tell her.”
I looked at her and said, “He’s going to be okay.”
“Did the doctor tell you that?,” she asked.
“No, the doctor did not tell me that.”
“Then how do you know?”
“The Lord told me he was going to be okay.”
“Oh.”
I knew I had heard the Lord say he was going to be okay, but I was having a hard time maintaining my confidence (faith) at that moment. Three and a half weeks passed. I had been up to the hospital to see him several times by then. There had not been any evidence of change. Same machines. Same report. Nothing was changing. I would mouth the same words to his mother. “He is going to be fine.” I had passed the place of feeling like I was lying. Mostly, I felt like I was going through the motions, just waiting on him to die.
As I was driving home from the hospital, I heard the Lord say, “Allen, what are you thinking about?” I wasn’t even thinking about what I was thinking about. As I focused, I came to realize I was thinking about the young man’s funeral. I was thinking about what I would say if I was asked to speak at his funeral.
I heard the Lord say quite sternly, “Get rid of that thought.”
I replied back to the Lord, “I haven’t seen any change in three and a half weeks. Nothing seems to be working.”
“Get rid of the thought. I told you he was going to be fine.”
Just two days later, I received a call from his mother.
“Pastor Allen, my son woke up.”
Over twenty years later, He is still doing fine. God is so good.
Just a reminder here. It is all about the goodness of God. In Allen, there is nothing, but God wants us to see through His eyes and declare His Word. It is easy when everything is going well, but when a challenge arises we can be quite shortsighted.
Look at our opening scripture again.
The King of Syria was planning attacks against Israel. The Lord kept speaking to Elisha and telling him the plan. Elisha would then tell the King of Israel. Naturally, the King of Syria was becoming quite upset. We pick up the story starting with verse 11.
2 Kings 6:11–13 (NIV)
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”
2 Kings 6:14 (NKJV)
14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
Trust me here. The King of Syria is not inviting Elisha to a birthday party. His intentions are a bit more sinister than that.
2 Kings 6:15 (NKJV)
15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
If your recall, in my last teaching letter I talked about seeking the Lord early in the morning. In our scripture today, we have a pretty good picture of what most of us do early in the morning. We take a good look at the troubles of the day. Elisha’s servant was not very convinced they were going to survive the day.
2 Kings 6:16 (NKJV)
16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Nice inspirational poster Elisha, but this is a real problem. It’s not time for three scriptures and a story. “What are we going to do?” I am sure the army surrounding the city seemed like numbers even greater than the servant could count. And, they were REAL.
2 Kings 6:17 (NKJV)
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
What we need to understand here is the horses and chariots of fire were there, even if the servant didn’t see them. We don’t know if Elisha actually saw them with his natural eyes. He knew they were there. The young servant needed to see things differently.
I would suggest you and I need the same visual adjustments. I always encourage those I teach, look at things through the cross. How did Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection impact the moment I find myself in today? Jesus paid a steep price for us. We are not the victim waiting on the Lord’s return. We are the fully equipped body of Christ, reaching out and demonstrating the Love and Power of Christ. At times, we are accused of always looking at things through “rose colored” glasses.
“Allen, it’s a real world out there.”
Fine, maybe we just need to look through “Blood Stained” glasses. What did Jesus pay for with His Blood?
Paul put it this way.
1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (NKJV)
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
I want my life to always be a demonstration of the love and power of Jesus Christ. One day, our time will have passed. This is our opportunity to minister to the harvest field. The Holy Spirit is still watching over “HIS” Word to perform it. Can He count on me to see correctly?
Until next time.
God Bless,
Allen