Train Your Spiritual Eyes!

Bad news, worse news, and more awful news … we are hearing nothing else in the news lately. So how do you react? What do you make of it? What wells up in your spirit when you hear this news? What is your body’s physical response, as you come face to face with bad news? Do you panic? Does fear overwhelm you? Or do you wish that this scripture was reality for you? ‘He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD’ (Psalm 112:7).

Just to make this a bit more personal, I started writing this post from hospital, where I spent eight months with our baby girl. She almost died soon after her birth, and the doctors had absolutely no idea what was wrong with her, which meant I had plenty of bad news as they tried to come up with a diagnosis, ranging from more common diseases, syndromes, to all kinds of rare, unheard of, metabolic disorders, and life-shortening, degenerative illnesses. There was a new idea almost every time I saw the doctors, as they gave me the results of lab tests. Then suddenly, due to an emergency operation, they discovered the root of the problem, and were able to fix most of her issues.

One thing I’ve learned, and it’s gone deep into my inner being, is that I must fight as hard as I can to not allow bad and negative news to enter my spirit. I’m learning to train my spiritual eyes to see what God sees, and not what the doctors see. I’m learning not to be moved or shaken by what I hear, no matter what the physical evidence suggests, even if it means that they think I’m crazy.

I was reminded of the twelve spies, sent out by Moses, to check out the scene of the Promised Land and bring back news of it. Ten of the spies came back petrified, and two of them came back with a very different story. The ten came back saying: “Oh, my goodness! There are huge giants there, with cities that have high fortified walls. It’s impossible, we’re all going to die!” But Joshua and Caleb came back saying: “Oh, my goodness! There are huge giants there, with cities that have high fortified walls, but we can’t wait to see how God delivers His promise to us.” Interestingly, all the twelve spies observed exactly the same thing. But two of them had a different set of eyes, they chose to have a different attitude.

Why was it that Joshua and Caleb were able to see differently? Is it by chance? Did they just have a more positive outlook on life? Were they just simply blessed with more optimistic characters? I don’t think so. Let’s look at what the Bible says of them, how were they different from the ten spies? Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun ‘did not leave the tent’ (Exodus 33:11). Caleb … shall see (the Promised land) … ‘because he has wholly followed the Lord’ (Deuteronomy 1:36).

To have a good set of spiritual eyes, we need to do two things: to live in the presence of the Lord, and to live for Him whole-heartedly, walking in total obedience, regardless of what He asks us to do. Then we’ll inherit the promises that are available to all of us regarding healing, provision, protection, peace, and everything else the Scripture talks about.

But most importantly when bad news come, we’ll be able to fully resist fear, panic, depression and everything else the devil wants to throw in our way. We’ll truly be ambassadors of the Prince of Peace in a world that’s collapsing all around us, and our light will shine bright in the darkness.

Prayer: Dear Father, I repent of having listened to the voice of the enemy and agreed with it regarding myself and my circumstances. I ask You to give me Your eyes and Your vision to see what You see. I choose today to believe everything You say about me in the Bible. I declare that Your promises are Yes! and Amen! in my life and my family’s life.