The Peace of Being Spiritually Aware of God's Presence

The gift of sight is powerful. I was born partially blind, a condition which leaves me in a perpetual state of seeing only part of the picture. I completely miss seeing things that are on my blindside. I regularly stumble off curbs because my limited sight does not give me a full and accurate awareness of how tall the curb is. Seeing some things and not seeing others can be dangerous.  At best, it is distracting.

We so easily focus on what we can see that we sometimes miss the full picture. The full picture includes where God is at work, both in our physical worlds (what we can see) and in the spiritual realm (what we can’t see). Being spiritually aware means being alert to what God is doing. It’s like having a God-radar that pings in your heart showing you where God is at work, especially when you can’t see it with your eyes. With every ping, your focus is drawn to Him.

We see this kind of spiritual awareness in Elisha in 2 Kings 6. The servant of Elisha panicked when the soldiers of the King of Aram, enemy of Israel, surrounded the city of Dothan where Elisha was staying. Battle was inevitable. Death was plausible. Elisha’s servant responded in fear to what he could see.  

But Elisha’s servant wasn’t fully aware of their circumstances. He couldn’t see that God was with them. Elisha knew his servant had no reason to fear, so he encouraged his servant, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (2 Kings 6:16 ESV) Elisha followed his words of comfort with a request for spiritual awareness. "Then Elisha prayed and said, 'O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.' So 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 6:17 ESV). 

Living spiritually aware leads us to peace and comfort, even (or especially) when our circumstances are not what we would like. Elisha didn’t panic because he was spiritually aware. He knew the Lord’s army was with them. They were not alone.

There will be times when our hearts race and panic threatens to creep in. Those are the moments when we need to tune our hearts to our God-radar and listen for the ping.  We must learn to turn our focus away from our circumstances and toward our sovereign God who was, and is, and will always be in control.

Question for Reflection:

Next time you are in a stressful situation, ask God: Where are You in this moment? What might You be up to?