"Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water"(Gen 21:19)

Perhaps just a few days before, Hagar had lived in the comfort and provision of her kind master Abraham. But now we see Hagar and her young son Ishmael cast out of the house, desperate and dying of thirst in the desert of Beersheba. Once before she had fled, and the Lord had reassured her to return to Abraham-where was He now? We see her leave the boy under a shrub and sit down at a distance from him so she would not have to watch him die. Suddenly a voice calls to Hagar: "Fear no, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation"(Gen 21:17-18). The Lord had come! But more astonishing is what happened next: "Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink"(Gen 21:19). The text does not say that God made a well, but that He opened her eyes to see the well that was already there. God opened Hagar's eyes.

Balaam is also traveling. He is headed for the king of Moab to curse the people of Jehovah-against His express command. But his donkey is just not behaving! First the donkey leaves the road and goes into the field-and Balaam strikes it to get it back on the road. Then the donkey has the nerve to crush his foot against a wall! Balaam strikes the donkey again. Finally the donkey decides to just lay down in the road. He takes his rod and beats her another time. But something amazing happens-the donkey objects to this treatment! "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"(Num 22:28). After a brief argument with his donkey, Balaam finally begins to understand what has been happening. "Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face"(Num 22:31). Had the donkey kept going, Balaam would have been killed by something he did not see. Fortunately for him-and for his donkey-God opened Balaam's eyes.

The king of Syria has a problem-Elisha the prophet keeps telling the king of Israel all his plans. In an effort to silence this meddling prophet, the king sends a great army to capture Elisha. They surround the city with horses and chariots to take this peaceful prophet. Terrified, Elisha's young servant asks "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"(2 Kings 6:15). Elisha gives a strange answer: "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them"(2 Kings 6:16). How could anyone defeat this incredible army? What hope do these small men in this small town have? "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 6:17). There was more to the story than what the young man saw, and it remained hidden to him until God helped him to see. When the odds were stacked against them and all looked bleak, God opened the young man's eyes.

There are spiritual realities all around us. We may continue oblivious to them or discount their existence, but they remain real. "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"(Eph 6:12). Our war is not with seen things, but with unseen things-with ideologies, with spiritual forces of wickedness, with false teachings, with Satan's minions and workers. Recognizing spiritual reality is essential to us-in the same way it saved the lives of Hagar, Balaam, and Elisha.

Yet these realities cannot be observed by our own determination-God must open our eyes. It is not that we are somehow depraved and require direct enlivening action from God, but that such spiritual things must be accepted by faith. God must tell us about these things, or we have no hope of perceiving them. Paul prayed for the Ephesians, "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints"(Eph 1:18). Our understanding can only grow-our eyes can only be opened-when we turn to God to receive sight and knowledge. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"(Rom 10:17). It is God's word alone that can give us this sight. Try as we might, we cannot deduce spiritual reality. God must open our eyes.

Even then, we must trust God and follow after things we have not seen. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"(Heb 11:1, ESV). Even with the opening of our eyes, "we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen"(2 Cor 4:18). Even with God's revealing, "we walk by faith, not by sight"(2 Cor 5:7). We still must trust God when we step out in faith with our finances. We still must place faith in Him to provide what we need when we are seeking Him first. We still must believe fully that prayer will save. We still must cling to His word though we hear no voices from heaven and see no angels. God has opened our eyes to see His truth-now we must trust Him to follow further into things we have not seen.

There is more to life than what we see. Are your eyes opened?___Jacob Hudgins