2 Kings 6:17 “And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
As a prophet, Elisha accomplished twice as many deeds for the Lord as his predecessor Elijah. In this passage, we find that a host of enemies had surrounded the city in which Elisha camped. His servant saw the number of foes and asked how he and Elisha would escape. Elisha responded, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” After Elijah asked the Lord to open the eyes of his servant, the servant saw that the Lord had the situation under control. In fact, God smote the enemy with blindness and Elisha was able to lead them far off into Samaria.
Notice that Elisha was not panicked, startled or distressed at the news of being surrounded by the enemy. His faith wained not when he prayed for God to blind the enemy, and God rewarded his faith. How often do we react as the servant did instead of how Elisha reacted? How many times do we appraise our situation with the carnal senses and not with the spiritual? Our prayer each day should be, “Open my eyes, Lord.”
We should pray that God opens our eyes to:
1). The Perspective - Elisha was not consumed with fear although he woke up surrounded by those that wanted to destroy him. Elisha saw the situation from Heaven’s point of view. He knew that God had the situation under control and he saw what his servant did not. We should never ask, ”why is this happening?” Instead we should ask the Lord to open our eyes to see how He can get the most glory from our situation.
2). The Perils - So many times people have fallen right into the traps of Satan with their eyes wide open and never perceiving any danger. We walk into traps or fall into danger when we look through fleshly eyes. However, if we ask God to illuminate the path He will guide us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. His word will light the way and His hand will guide us along.
3). The Personal Opportunities - Elisha heard the news his servant brought him and saw it as an opportunity. He knew that he was under God’s protection, knew that God had all power and purposed that the Lord would get honor and glory from his actions. We ought to ask the Lord to open our eyes to the lost, the hurting, the burdened, the weak, and any others that we can shine as a light to. We don’t perceive the spiritual needs of others when we look through the eyes of the flesh. We need God to open our eyes to see as He sees so we can make a difference to those that we can reach.
Paul wrote to the Philippians to have the same mind that Christ Jesus had as he walked the earth. We should also strive to be Christlike in the way that we see the world. Take off the blinders, set aside the carnal view that we embrace so easily and ask God to show you the world as He sees it. It’s easier to weather storms, face trials, see the needs, keep a burden, and live as a vessel of honor when you see the situation from a spiritually clear point of view.
Your fellowservant in Christ,
Bro. Jordan Foster