Friday the 13th! Typically this is a day many look at in dread and fear. The world wants the soul to look at this day with trembling superstition.
Superstition is one thing the world says to believe without seeing.
We are asked by the Lord to believe even when we don’t see. And, to see things through the eyes of God. In order to see through His view, we must come to know God, how He thinks (the Scriptures and teaching of the Church) and what He desires of each of us. In essence, surrender.
Surrendering to the Divine Will despite what is going on in the world or in our lives draws a soul to a deep level of intimacy with the Father.
The world looks at suffering as horrible or karma. The Pharisees and even His disciples in the Gospels looked at blindness and illness as ‘karma’ for sin. ““Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”” John 9:2. But, Jesus overturned that all with His reply, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:3
As Catholics, we don’t look at things as karma or through the lens of superstition. Instead, we look through the eyes of faith. This thought is why we sing “open the eyes of my heart, Lord.”
When you see things through the eyes of faith, God always is bigger than your problems. Fear, anxiety, and hopelessness melt away in the light of His glory.
The eyes of faith are moved only by God’s Spirit and His Word, not by what we see through our human eyes. This is shown in the story of the king of Aram sending “horses and chariots and a great army” to surround the city where the prophet Elisha was. Elisha’s servant was terrified by the spectacle of this mighty force, intent on taking Elisha captive. “Alas, my master!” he said in alarm. “What shall we do?” 2 Kings 6:11-19
Based on human understanding, it was a perfectly logical question. They were clearly outnumbered. Yet Elisha saw an entirely different picture — made possible by the eyes of faith. “Do not fear,” he told his servant, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v. 16).
Elisha and his servant were standing right next to each other, but they saw two different realities. Yet that was about to change: “Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” 2 Kings 6:17
While the world says, “Seeing is believing,” the Bible says just the opposite. We must make a choice to believe God’s Word and reject the lies of the enemy. Then, and only then, will our eyes of faith see what is going on in the spiritual realm.
That’s why Jesus pointed out to those standing at Lazarus’ gravesite: “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40. God’s Kingdom, BELIEVING always precedes SEEING.
So don’t be blinded by your natural circumstances. Instead, ask God to open your spiritual eyes as He did for Elisha’s servant. Trust in Jesus to lift you and carry you along the Road of Faith, through darkness and light.
When your spiritual eyes are opened, you will recognize that you’re not alone. God is with you, and He has a massive spiritual arsenal at your disposal. You are His child, and His Spirit is alive within you.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling…and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” Ephesians 1: 18-19
Stand strong! Believe God’s Word, and you will see His glory manifested in your life. Now is the time to allow faith to rise up within you.