What the Eye Cannot See

What my eye cannot see

It was 10:24 PM when the text came in.

“If you’re up, go outside and look at the aurora!!”

I was still up, so I slid into my crocs and slipped out the door. Hurriedly, I ran across the parking area beside the deck to the wooden fence that provided safety for our cattle. They were there, I knew, but the darkness did not allow me to see their black frames. Peering into the darkness and across the sky, I saw a few stars, nothing else.

In the distance, a dog barked, and I heard the smooth movement of a vehicle drive across the pavement with brake lights disappearing around the curve just beyond our house, but there was nothing in the sky. Only a few stars barely reached behind the darkness. Indeed, there is absolutely nothing, I thought, to see. 

I picked up my phone and texted back, “I can’t see a thing. It’s all dark here.”

“If you get out from under the trees you can visibly see the sky is pink and green! It’s changing a lot though and kind of ebbs and flows,” my daughter-in-law replied.

“How can that be?” I texted back. “I cannot see a thing. My sky is black!”

Hitting the camera mode on my phone, I snapped a picture. It took a minute because it was so dark, and I followed the instructions of my camera to hold still. I waited until the photo was taken, then hit the send button once my phone notified me to do so.  In amazement, I noticed the picture I was sending was not of darkness or blackness or just a few stars in the sky. This photo was aglow with vibrant colors of red, pink, orange, and purple in the camera lense. What just happened didn’t register until the photo was sent. I stared in disbelief at the photo on my camera. What just happened? I wondered. 

“I can’t believe this!” I texted. “When I took a picture, the sky was black. Look at what my camera did!”

“That’s because the camera takes a long exposure, collecting light for three full seconds to develop the picture. It really captures the light our eye can’t detect,” she texted.

What? I could not believe my eyes. I snapped another picture and another and another. The sky was truly dark, yet behind the darkness was something I could not see. Just because I couldn’t see it, did not mean it wasn’t there.

Elisha’s servant

This happened to Elisha’s servant thousands of years ago. The Syrian army was coming, and Elisha warned the king of Israel not to come near because the Syrians were coming.

In the meantime, the king of Syria wanted to know where Elisha was. One of his men said, ““Elisha is in Israel, and he tells the king the words you speak in your bedroom. He is in Dothan.”

The Syrian king sent his army to Dothan. They came at night and surrounded the city, a great army with horses and chariots. They surrounded the city, but it was dark, so no one knew. The eye could not see.

When the servant of the man of God arose early and went outside, he could see the army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. He thought they were doomed for disaster, but what God opened his eyes to see confirmed otherwise.

Elisha’s servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

The servant was afraid because he thought they were alone against the Syrian army. Elisha knew better. He knew when God is there, it is enough. His servant, however, was afraid and feared for his life. That is because he could not see. He seemed to forget that God is there even when the eye cannot see.

Just like the night I ran outside to see the aurora and could only see the black sky- I could not see the colors, the changing hues, and the glory behind the black sky. All I could see was darkness.

Elisha’s servant, likewise, could only see the Syrian army.

“Don’t be afraid,” Elisha assured his servant, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant. No doubt the servant thought there was nothing to see.  All around him was the dread of tomorrow – and certain death. 

When his eyes were opened, he saw what the naked eye could not see. There was a mountain all right, but the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around them.

It was true. The ones with Elisha were greater than the ones in the Syrian army.

There is more to the story. You can find it here. 

What the eyes cannot see but God can

The next time I’m tempted to ask just like Elisha’s servant did, “Alas, what shall we do?” I hope I’ll remember the night I slipped outside and thought there was nothing to see but darkness.

I’ll remember that beyond what the naked eye can see is a Power who can quench any darkness around. I’ll remember the hidden display of color and light seen only by the three-second wait, and I hope I’ll remember, when I am afraid, to pause and wait. Only then will I see the beauty behind the darkness and the cascade of colors of those northern lights. Only then will I realize that, behind the darkness is the Presence who knows everything – including what the eye cannot see

Note on the photos: I used the phone on my camera to take these photos. No filters (I don’t even know how to do that).