Seeing Through the Eyes of Faith

The servant must have wondered what Elisha was talking about. For sure, after he (the servant) had woken up that morning and looked outside, he saw that "an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city" in which he and his master were staying. He knew that the Arameans were angry at Elisha who was warning the king of Israel about their plans of attack. Now they had found him (2 Kings 6:8-14). Filled with consternation he said to his master, "'Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?'” To which Elisha replied, "Don’t be afraid ... those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (vv. 15, 16).

Of course, the servant could only see himself and his master. What did the prophet mean by those who are with us? Maybe the pressure had gotten to him and he had lost touch on reality because as far as he (the servant) was concerned, there was nobody else on their side and there was an army waiting to arrest and take them back to Aram to face the wrath of the king. While the servant stood processing all of this, the narrative continues, "And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.'" and then in what must have seemed like an instant, "The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (v. 17).

We are not told anything about the servant's reaction to what he was now seeing. However, it is fair to conclude that he probably breathed a sigh of relief. Now he knew why the army surrounding the city did not trouble his master; he was focusing on the “hills full of horses and chariots of fire” that surrounded him. What started out as two people standing in the same moment in time, looking at the same circumstances yet seeing different things, ended with both persons seeing the same things. The difference? Seeing with the eyes of faith.

Looking at the servant before Elisha's prayer, we see ourselves. We look around and we see our circumstances. Not only do we see them, we are intimidated by them. So much so that we echo the words, "Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?" Yet our Lord would have us look at our circumstances not with our natural eyes, "but my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him" (Hebrews 10:38, NIV). For the believer who desires to please God, living by faith is not an option; it is a mandate (Hebrews 11:6). Genuine faith is dead to doubt, dumb to discouragement, [and] blind to impossibilities; it is unwavering, holding fast even in the face of what seems like insurmountable odds. It makes all the difference in the world in how we see things.

As you deal with your day-to-day life and situations, where is your line of sight focused? How are you seeing?