Ramblings on Faith
What We See
10/18/2009
Spiritual and emotional vulnerability can come from any of our senses: what you see, what you smell, what you touch, what you taste or what you hear. Any of your senses can be faith killers if you let them. Today I want you to think about what you see. What you see can easily “talk” you out of God’s blessings. The Bible says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
There is a cool story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elisha, and the Bible said he was surrounded by the Assyrian soldiers, and he turned to his servant and said, “Walk out there and tell me what you see.” And the boy walked out and he saw the enemies’ chariots completely surrounding the house, and he walked in and he said, “Oh my, oh my, what are we going to do, Prophet? They’ve got us surrounded.” And so Elisha prayed what seemed to be an odd prayer for that moment. He said, “Lord, open his eyes,” and he walked right back out on the same porch, but this time he saw more than just the problem.
When we get in a struggle, sometimes we can only see the problem. But as believers, we are to “lift up our eyes unto the hills from where our help comes.” Our help is the Lord. And I’m saying to you, when you get bad news, when you get a bad X-ray, when you get something going on in your family and your home and you’ve got what seems to be an impossibility, when you’re facing a difficulty that seems too big for you to overcome, you cannot allow what you feel, what you smell or what you see to talk you out of what God has promised you.
Ultimately, God has promised you victory in your life. You may go through this and that, you may go through the fire and through the flood, but ultimately God has planned no defeat for His children. Even in death, the scripture said, “To live is Christ, but to die is gain.” And so we cannot be deterred by what we see.
And the Bible said when he walked out, the servant didn’t just see the Assyrian army, but he lifted up his eyes and he saw chariots with angels coming down. And I don’t know what you’re seeing. You may be seeing the enemy, but if you’ll pray and look through faith, you don’t just have to see the enemy, you don’t just have to see problems, you can see promises, and you have to choose, what are you going to focus on? Are you going to focus on the problem or are you going to focus on the promise? Are you going to stand on the promises or will you remain sitting on the premises?
What are you looking at? What are you seeing? What are you focusing on? Remember that God’s Word is just as real as the bad report. Truth is truth no matter what the situation is, no matter what a person said, no matter what clever logic you have to explain it away, God’s truth is still The Truth.
Remember also to be careful about what you see because you can also focus on your neighbor’s successes and how good somebody else is doing, and you will lose focus on what blessings God has for your life. Get your foot on what you see and say, “Lord, I believe what you said is true.”
Keep putting your foot on the neck of what you see and know in your soul that God has plans to prosper you and not harm you. You can’t go by what you see. You can go by what God says, and God is faithful. Our God is able.
