Read 2 Kings 6:8-22
Elisha is a prophet. Prophets listen for the voice of God, and help bring people closer to the heart of God. At this point in the story, Israel is in a conflict with the Arameans, and they’re outmatched. However, God is actually telling Elisha the enemy’s battle plans. That keeps Israel one step ahead, and the King of Aram is convinced there’s a spy in his army. The king realizes he’s not dealing with a spy, he’s dealing with a prophet— and now he’s out to get Elisha.
The Aramean army surrounds the city, intent on trapping Elisha. The text says,
“When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. ‘Oh, sir, what will we do now?’ the young man cried to Elisha. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ Elisha told him. ‘For there are more on our side than on theirs!’ Then Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!’ The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire,” (2 Kings 6:15-17, NLT).
The king saw Elisha as a threat, and out of that fear, he pulled out all the stops to get rid of him. But the thing is, even if he did capture Elisha, he’d never be able to trap God. The king focused on what he could see with his eyes, but Elisha and his servant saw more. Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened to see a fuller picture of reality, and he did. In light of all those horses and chariots of fire, the Aramean army didn’t look so terrible. So we need to ask ourselves: where are we looking? And howare we looking?
We need to ask God to open our spiritual eyes so we can see the world like he does. The Apostle Paul prayed like this all the time. In Ephesians he writes, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe,” (Ephesians 1:18-19a). When our eyes are open, we can see God’s love and his power at work in the world, right here among us. God is with us, and he’s fighting for us. Too often we see one without the other, but we can’t separate them.
As disciples, we must learn to see everything through Jesus; the good and the bad. We live with confidence that God is making things right—no matter how things look on the surface. Disciples see hope where everyone else sees a lost cause. We see beauty in the ugliest places. We have a fuller perspective of what’s going on. Our sight and perspective motivate us to live by faith, not fear. We understand more than what meets the eye, because we see everything in light of Jesus. We see sunsets, work, play, people, social media, art, war, and our breakfast cereal through Jesus. Disciples experience everything through Jesus. He is here and we know it. That’s the power of awareness.
God is everywhere—but that doesn’t mean we always see him. If we want to see what God is doing, we’re going to need to put our whole lives into it. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me,” (Jeremiah 29:13, NLT). The New International Version (NIV) says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Here is the key: we often pray and ask God to show up, but the fact is, he is already here to be found. God gives us a wide-open invitation. If we don’t hold anything back, he won’t either.
We want God to help us with the battles all around us. We want him to show us what he’s doing, and take care of it all for us. We want God to be our protector. If someone is against us, we want God to work in their life and reveal the truth to them so they can have a change of heart—but we don’t always invite God to change ourhearts first. How often do we seek divine help, without actively submitting ourselves to God?
You see, if we want God to take care of all the things going on around us, we’re going to need to let him take care of what’s going on in our own hearts. If we want God to guide us as we navigate the everyday circumstances of life, and we want him to fix what’s going wrong in the world, we need to first listen when he tells us what’s wrong with us. That’s the deal. When we can’t see God or hear what he’s saying, we are quick to say he’s distant and silent, when really, we’re the ones far away and closed off to what’s happening.
If we want some of God’s help, but not all of it, if we’re holding anything back— something is in the way between us and Jesus. We can’t see clearly until we hand it over. We can’t ask God to help us see what to do about something outside ourselves if we want to stay blind to what’s going on within us. It just doesn’t work that way. Perhaps we only see a little because we’re only surrendering a little. Remember: we will seek God and find him when we seek him with all our hearts. If we want God to show up in our lives, we have to want to see everything he has to show us.
In a way, our level of God-awareness is linked to our desire for self-awareness. We say we want to hear God’s voice, but do we really want to hear everything he has to say?
Disciples live connected to Jesus and they know it. Jesus is not only near us, but with us. As we submit ourselves to God, his light wins over our lives. Jesus has always been present, but we haven’t always seen him. He has always been speaking, but we haven’t always heard his voice. God is here to be found. We don’t need to seek mountaintop experiences to see and hear him. In fact, we experience God most easily within the events of our everyday lives. That is the essence of awareness: Opening up our eyes to see him at work in the most unseemly of places.
In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard writes, “God is not looking for a holy place. Places are holy because God is there”. This place where you are, right now, is a holy place. God is here, and he’s eager to meet with you. Are you eager to meet with him? Are you willing to see everything he has to show you?
