JUST THINKING: Eye-Opening Experiences

I was just thinking about the lyrics to John Newton’s great hymn, “Amazing Grace,”and how many times I sang it in church without really stopping to consider its great lyrics. The phrase that impacted me says, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.” How true those words are for each believer.

Those words reminded me of the prophet Elisha and his servant, Gehazi, in the Valley of Dothan, as recorded in II Kings 6:8-14. The king of Aram (present-day Syria) was at war with Israel. Every time he made plans for an attack, the plan failed miserably. Frustrated, the king assumed an infiltrator, a mole, had entered the camp and was getting the information back to the Israelite army. However, his attendants informed him that the prophet in Israel named Elisha knew all the king’s plans — even his conversations in the bedroom. Anger set in, and the king gave orders to find that scoundrel!

Dothan was Elisha’s hometown, and apparently, he and his servant had chosen to set up camp in the valley as they journeyed home. All was well, and they went to sleep for the night. Gehazi awakened, and (this is the way I envisioned it) yawned, stretched and looked around the rim of the valley, only to find that Aram’s army surrounded him and his master!

A Lesson for Us to Remember

God has preserved His Word, not to be a book of history but to show us who He is and how He sees and cares about those who put their trust in Him. Here is the lesson for us to remember — the faith eye is actually clearer than the sight eye.

Elisha got up to the frantic call of his servant, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” Then, Elisha, whose knees weren’t knocking and was as cool as a cucumber, said, “Don’t be afraid, Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (II Kings 6:15-16 NIV).

Aren’t we, many times, like Elisha’s servant?We read our Bibles, hear the pastor preach words of encouragement and are told to trust in Him whom we cannot see. But when putting that into practice, we become frantic like Gehazi.

When We Least Expect, God Intervenes

That young servant was fearing for his life. He saw nowhere to run and hide. He felt helpless, and, above all, he couldn’t see any group that numbered more than the Syrian army. Then Elisha did something! He didn’t call the cavalry or perform any magic. No, Elisha did what believers need to do today — he prayed! Here is what the prophet asked from God: “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see…” (II Kings 6:17). Hearing his master pray, Gehazi may have been like us in our thinking, “It takes so long to get an answer to prayer.” But not that day! “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” (v. 17). Then “Elisha prayed to the Lord, ‘Strike these people with blindness.’ So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked” (II Kings 6:18).

God Has His Angels All Around Us

Those chariots of fire were an angel army, but they never attacked. They reassured a servant to a God-trusting prophet. Actually, the Syrians were defeated by a one-man army. Elisha had no spear, no arrows — just prayer, answered prayer! Because of it, one man’s eyes were opened, and an entire army’s eyes were closed.

A very popular song says, “We are standing on holy ground, and I know there are angels all around. Let us praise Jesus now because we are standing in His presence on holy ground.” May each of us thank God for our eye-opening experience of salvation. We once were blind, but now we see.