A sermon on the prophet Elisha

"Unseen But Real"

 

My love affair with technology was renewed recently as I purchased a handheld gadget to help keep track of things. On this device I can keep track of my schedule, find phone numbers for friends and associates and even check my e-mail. No, it's not a smart phone, but it's pretty close. I've already spend a few fascinating hours using it for various tasks.

 

As I downloaded a program recently I reflected on what was happening. The wireless router through which I received the signal was located a room or two away. I could see nothing floating through the air, but certainly something was there. The very information I had requested was streaming my way, and soon the results were on my handheld device. Unseen, but very real.

 

Such phenomena have been with us for longer than computers and the Internet. Electricity, for example, flows through the wires in our walls without our notice. Even if you strip away the plastic cover of the wires (not recommended!), you won't be able to tell when current is flowing, unless enough is flowing to heat the wires to a glowing red. Yet every day we enjoy the benefits of this unseen reality.

 

Before electricity was harnessed there was magnetism. You can't visibly detect the force that draws metal objects to the magnet, but neither can you deny that a force is present.

 

The Bible informs us of other unseen realities around us. Paul, in urging us to protect ourselves with items from God's spiritual armory, proclaimed this: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

 

Many will scoff at the idea of spiritual forces doing battle, doing their utmost to pull us away from God. "I don't see anything!" they will laugh. Do they deny the reality of wireless Internet?

 

The prophet Elisha found himself in what others saw as a crisis. The city in which he was staying was surrounded by soldiers who had come to arrest him. Elisha felt no concern and stated to his young assistant that "those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16). Then, to show the young man the truthfulness of his claim, he offered this prayer: "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see" (2 Kings 6:17). At that point the assistant saw the army of the Lord surrounding the army of the Syrians. The Lord would again deliver His servants.

 

During His ministry on earth, Jesus performed amazing miracles. Among the most amazing was the opening of the eyes of the blind. But He helps more than those who are physically blind, wrote Paul: "But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10).

 

As we stand before an open grave, we don't see immortality. If we trust the Lord's promises, however, we know that the hope of everlasting life, though unseen, is nonetheless real. And that's what motivates us to place our lives in His hands. Speaking of His hands, that's something else we can't see, but we know they're real!

 

Timothy D. Hall