Life can be hard, harder than hard at times. There are those moments in all of our lives when we think the difficulty is so large that there is no way out. It’s over. I’ve come to the end. We so often face situations where we think all is lost, and we’re done. Forget about it. It will never change. It’s easy to lose heart in difficult times. Life allows things that begin to look as if all is against you. There is no way out. God will even send you a brother or a sister to encourage you, but you quickly dismiss their words and their help, because you’re convinced, it won’t change.

Elisha’s servant was in this exact place in 2 Kings 6. He woke up one morning to see a Syrian army approaching to capture him. It overwhelmed him. He cried out to Elisha, “Alas, my master, what shall we do?” With all that he saw, he panicked. He didn’t know what to do. But Elisha did. He prayed. He prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant, so that he could see it’s not as bad as it appeared.

Just like Elisha’s servant, what is needed in times like these is for God to open our eyes to see what we cannot see spiritually.

There is a hidden spiritual realm all around us. It’s real but unseen. There is the physical and the spiritual. Unfortunately, the physical tends to get all of our attention and focus. It forces itself into the forefront, into our face, our mind! You get an email. A phone call. Eyes see. Hearts feel. Minds race. It’s easy to lose sight of the spiritual because of the physical. We have to train ourselves to be sensitive to see the spiritual.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NKJV).

Sadly, living as we do in this material world, we get so involved in the physical, material things of life, where that is all we ever see.

We lose sight of the spiritual. We lose sight of God! We get so concerned about the opposition that is facing us. The power of the enemy, especially when we begin to fight the forces of the world. How hard it is. How hopeless it seems! We are like this servant. What we see discourages us! ALAS! We falsely conclude almost every day, “Oh there’s no way we can withstand them!”

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4, NKJV).

“What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else” (Romans 8:31-32, NLT).

These truths are ours in Christ. Don’t forget them. Memorize them. Hide them in your heart. God is greater. God is stronger. God is faithful. When our eyes are on the situation, panic takes over. We freak out when we see our enemies, when we face our difficulties.

Pastor Chuck Smith taught us, “The longer we look at our problem, the bigger it gets!” It’s true! The problems surrounding our lives can seem so big that we don’t even see or feel God anymore! We are like Elisha’s servant here saying, “It’s over! Nothing we can do. Let’s just throw up our hands and give up.” Don’t give up!

Oh, that God would open our eyes, that we might see the spiritual.

Elisha prayed that his servant’s eyes would be open, and they were! He saw the stronger army of God surrounding the place. I pray that in every situation we are in, we would not only see the problems around us but also the solutions! When the eyes of the servant were open, he could see the spiritual parts behind the scenes; he saw that the angels of the Lord were surrounding the Syrians, the horses and chariots of fire surrounding the Syrian army. What a difference it made in his whole outlook.

“And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17, NKJV).

When we only look at the material things, so often we say, “We’ve had it!”, but when God opens our eyes, and we see the spiritual dimension, it changes completely. We say, “They’ve had it!” Oh, that we would see the power of God! The power that God has made available to us. Those resources that are ours in the realm of the Spirit.

Looking back, isn’t it true that God has been faithful? Isn’t it true God was faithful? What was the big problem 10 years ago? Ten days ago? God came through. He did then. He will again!

I love the way Jesus used questions:

But who do you say that I am? (Luke 9:20)
Do you believe this? (John 11:26)
Do you not yet understand? (Mark 8:21)

When I was young, I’m certain I asked many questions. Children simply do. We are innately born seekers, longing to grasp what we do not yet understand.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking some of the good and necessary questions. I became so convinced I was right and bold in my “right thinking” that I lost patience with wandering thoughts.

I have been rediscovering the importance of asking the right questions.

While sharing dinner with friends, I flipped through one of their books and found this one: “When we say Jesus ‘paid the price’ for our sins, who did He pay it to? God? Satan? Someone or something else?”

I was stumped. Here is a phrase I have spoken, sung, shared, and used. At 32 years old, for the very first time I was asking myself: What in the world does it mean?

Sidebar: This is a legitimate and important question. I’m reading and exploring it, and the implications are massive. If you’d like to discuss it further, please contact me, and I will send you some of the books I’m now reading on the topic.

In exploring this question, I’ve discovered more of the grace and holiness of God. I’m learning more about His holy wrath, more about His healing love, more about the eternal nature of a God who, “In Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

My personal walk with Christ will be richer for wrestling through this question. My proclamation of the Gospel will be more accurate because of the research it requires. My awe at the character of my God is deepened because of the right questions.

Equally, I sat earlier this week with a pastor in London I love and respect. He kindly said to me (about another issue):

“But Sarah, that’s the wrong question.”

I received it. As I reflected on that statement, it created a clear division between the kinds of questions we ask.

There are the good, honest, Christ-centered questions that draw us more into His Scriptures and presence.

Too often, I am guilty of asking the critical, cutting “prove me right” kind of questions. No one wins with these. Even if I do prove myself right, I’ve cut and damaged in the process. Many authors, speakers, and individuals are wrestling with hard questions, which is important. But I find too often, the kindness and redemptive grace of God are missing in these discussions.

I am the first to say that I have been guilty of the same. As I walk daily in a country that is far from God and with a culture that sees no need for His presence, I pray that the questions I ask would reveal only the beauty of His love. I pray that I would be faithful in asking the questions that lead to Christ and build up my brothers and sisters. Those are the ones worth asking, all eternity long.

For, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant to our fathers?”-Malachi 2:10