As a small child, my daughter Paige passionately asked me this question. I was videoing her and her mother early one morning. I started the conversation. “Look at these two beautiful sweet little dolls. Who is that pretty little girl right there?” She responds, “Hey who is it? Hey it’s me! Is that me?” My response, “No, it’s the Easter Bunny. She comes back with, “It’s not a Easter Bunny.” The Easter Bunny was not the response she was looking for as she asked again, “Who is on that TV?” This time I tell her “It’s an angel”. She nicely asked first “Can I see it?” I respond with, “It is the most beautiful angel ever.” This time Paige has reached the end of her little rope as she responds very passionately, “Can I See it?” It is the one line that defines my little Paige, who is now a 22 year old college junior, but still my little angel.
The Holy Spirit operates through faith, as you rarely see the Spirit with your natural eyes. It often takes patience, quiet time in prayer, and sometimes even fasting just to hear the Spirit’s voice. So if hearing is this difficult, what does it take to see the Holy Spirit?
One of my favorite songs is “Open the Eyes of my Heart”. A song that refers to Ephesians 1:18-19. I love the Amplified version. “And (I pray) that the eyes of your heart (the very center and core of your being) may be enlightened (flooded with light by the Holy Spirit), so that you will know and cherish the hope (the guarantee, the confident expectation) to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s People), and (so that you will begin to know) what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His (active, spiritual) power is in us who believe. These are in accordance in the working of His mighty strength.
My prayer the past few months is for God to open my eyes and allow me to see. Since then, I have seen or heard two things in almost everything. One is the word “SEE” and the other are the words “I AM”. In this post, I will focus on “SEE”. The Spirit has shown me much as I have heightened my senses and studies what the Word of God has to say about seeing.
Many, including myself, long to see the supernatural whether it be through seeing miracles or angels. What God has taught me is that it is more important that I first learn to see the needs of His children. How many opportunities to share God’s love do we miss? When we learn to see every single person we see in a day as someone who God loves immensely, then God will open our eyes to His understanding. Without you being God’s eyes and hands, that person may never see God’s love. Jesus cared about the least and the lost. He gave His life for those who hated Him. He forgave His murderers. He saw the whore and He loved and healed the sick, lame, and lepers. The first step to seeing is seeing everyone God places in your path.
The Old Testament talks quite a bit about seers. Seer is another word for a prophet. Specifically a prophet who saw visions or dreams. A seer was given insight into what God was saying. Prophets like Samuel, Daniel, and Jeremiah were asked by God to write down what they saw. Paul and John did so in the New Testament as well. How amazing would it be not only to see, but to be used by God in a mighty way? 2 Chronicles 16:9 says “For the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” How I long for the Lord to strengthen the eyes of my heart!
On rare occasions God opens our natural eyes to see into the supernatural realm. Elijah asked for God to open the eyes of his servant when they were surrounded by the enemy. Goo did so and he saw the angel armies surrounding the enemy. Another time Balaam’s donkey supernaturally spoke saving his life and then God opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel standing in front of him with a drawn sword. Many times throughout the Bible, God allowed men and women to see angels and miracles. Why do I mention these examples? To share with you what I believe God was telling me next. In order to win the battles in the seen, I must learn to see and fight battles in the unseen.
We are made in our Father God’s image and one of the names of God in the Hebrew is EL ROI – THE GOD WHO SEES ME. Hagar is the first to call God El Roi, she did so while stranded in the desert. Solomon states in Proverbs 15:3 that the eyes of the Lord are in every place. God can see all things and we cannot. Instead of depending on our natural eyes, how wise is it to learn to be led through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was sent by God to be our eyes and power on the earth!
I believe God was sharing with me how to see the unseen. I must first trust and build a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is both in and with me and the Spirit can see and understand everything in the unseen. So instead of spending most of my time trying to see a miracle or an angel, God is telling me to spend more time developing an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, my guide and helper.
God has shown me so much in my 50 years on this earth, yet I want to stay hungry for more. We have not because we ask not and we see not because we seek not. There was a time I easily gave up hope when I did not see a way. One of our biggest weakness is that we can see. The ability to see in the natural often hinders our ability to believe in the supernatural. Truth is God operates in the unknown and in the impossible, yet for some reason we do all we can to avoid both. Trying to accomplish everything with our own minds and talents. When are we truly going to believe, through Christ, All things are possible!
What I have learned is our prayer to see should go something like this. Can I See it? Show me the unseen Lord! Help and Guide me Holy Spirit. Let me daily see the least and the lost. May my faith realize that the impossible is where you are! Help me Believe and SEE!