God’s invisible reality

In early August, my husband and I spent part of our vacation in Redding, California. After many years of listening to sermons by the pastors of Bethel Church and reading the books they have written, we finally wanted to experience the atmosphere live. In short, I just want to say that it was impressive!

I participated in a 5-day prophecy seminar. Six prophets with very different personalities and giftings led the event very competently. It was amazing! There was a tremendous amount of information, insight and testimonies, that were always grounded in the Bible and gave glory to Jesus.

Now that we’re back from the trip, I’ve been trying to process, chew and digest all the impressions and information. Today I would like to share something that I picked up more on the sidelines, but is moving me at the moment.

Over and over again, they talked about special experiences that they or friends of theirs have had. Experiences of spiritual reality that I only know from the Bible: a cloud of glory in worship; perceiving angels ministering to people; experiences in which God intervened in a massive way; flames on people’s heads…. Wow!

They have shared experiences that are usually not spoken of in churches. But they have been part of life in biblical times and evidently they are still part of life today. There are many things in the kingdom of God that require childlike faith! Many things sound mysterious and cannot be fully grasped with the intellect. But our faith is based on the invisible and unexplainable!

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.
(Hebrews 11:1).

The invisible and the unexplainable are part of the Christian life! Each and every believer has been touched by the Holy Spirit, otherwise we would not have recognized Jesus as our Savior. This alone challenges our thinking. The Bible is full of things that cannot quite be grasped with the intellect.

I claim to believe the Bible, but do I reckon with spiritual reality in my everyday life? My mind and heart are not always in agreement. I do not realize in my everyday life that angels and also demons are around me, because I just do not see them. When I look out my window, I don’t see an angel on the roof across the street. But it is quite possible that there is one there – with power and a task! This sounds strange, but there are many Christians who actually perceive or see angels and demons around us. However, hardly anyone talks about spiritual experiences like these in order not to be considered crazy, even among Christians.

I find the account in the Old Testament of Elisha and his servant Gehazi fascinating. One morning Gehazi goes outside the door and is terrified to see hosts of enemies gathered around the city. But Elisha tells him that on their side is an even greater army. Elisha sees this in the invisible reality and asks God to also let his servant see.

…The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and let him see. The mountain around Elisha was full of fiery horses and chariots.
(2 Kings 6:17)

Fiery horses and chariots! Awesome! I would have loved to have seen that! Are we to imagine this symbolically? No, I don’t think so, or today’s believers would not have similar experiences! We read that God opens the eyes of the servant. This also means that our eyes are usually not open to the invisible, but that there is definitely something to see!

What changes for me with these insights is that I will try to broaden my mind further and be attentive. I might assume that my eyes are not open for the invisible, but that this invisible nevertheless exists! I become even more aware that God is at work. It gives my life another perspective! And it gives more meaning to prayer! Because in prayer we work with God in this invisible world.

Do you expect that a lot more is going on than what you experience and see in the natural? Read the Bible and pay attention to all the things that are supernatural or that show spiritual reality. The fact that there is this invisible reality should not worry you, because with God you are safe. On the contrary, through faith you can have an influence in the invisible reality with your prayer! And you may know that you are in the hands of a good God who is active!

PS: I’m interested in your opinion! What do you think about this?