Engaging the Unseen—The Bigger Picture

Lately I’ve been catching myself increasingly doing a lot of ‘double takes’ as I ‘see’ or sense something out of the corner of my eye that I didn’t realize was actually there. A startling flash of dark or white light, a figure, a creature, a door, or even descriptive words hanging in thin air. When I look back, my eyes don’t see anything, but a flickered image remains, as well as a real sense of its continued presence.

Some people might call it old age, or say my eyes are playing tricks on me, or think that I need more sleep, or accuse me for having an overactive imagination.

But the fact is, for many years, I’ve been asking for eyes to see the unseen world—what is going on in the spiritual realm ‘behind the scenes’, so that I can know how to interact and cooperate with Divine assignments. I want to bring encouragement and hope into our world. I figure the more I can see what God is doing, the more I can step in with understanding and compassion.

I think many of us see this kind of stuff but we may be too quick to dismiss it for fear people would call us crazy or weird. Or we don’t know what to do with what we detect.

One of my favorite stories in the ancient scriptures concerns a prophetic guy, Elisha. He was famous for his continual, accurate ‘insider information’ from Heaven that protected his leaders. So he was hated and hunted by his enemies.

One morning he discovered he was surrounded by ‘impressive fighting forces’ from the other side. Elisha’s servant panicked and said, “Oh, master! What shall we do?”

Elisha calmly answered, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.” And he prayed for God to open the servant’s eyes and let him see.

“The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountain-side full of heavenly horses and chariots of fire were surrounding Elisha.” (2 Kings 6). This turn of events led to a supernatural victory over the evil army. Elisha could clearly see the bigger picture. Appearances through the natural eye can be deceiving.

I believe we can live in greater confidence and faith if we become more aware of both the negative plots that are pitted against us, as well as the positive or angelic armies protecting us and working for us. Perhaps we would feel much less stress as well.

If I see something extra, maybe I’m being invited to join in somehow. I want to live a fully engaged life and make a difference for Good.

So, regarding those imgage flashes, scary, strange, puzzling, and often inconvenient—I say, “Thank you, Creator! BRING THEM ON! Open my eyes to see, and my ears to hear, and give me the courage to respond.”

Picture: Ron DiCianni “Chariots of Fire”

Engaging the Unseen—The Bigger Picture