On a recent flight to Alaska for the wedding of a good friend, this traveling man received quite a shock. I’ve ridden a motorcycle in all 50 states and flown over most of the contiguous US, and love how an airplane window seat provides a God’s eye view of the world. I traced our trek from San Diego to Seattle over the California coast, Mt. Shasta in NorCal and Crater Lake in Oregon, culminating in Mt. Rainier as we landed in Seattle.
The coastline truly was a line separating land and water…until we flew northwest from Seattle alongside Canada. The line became a multitude of sea fingers pushing into the land, sometimes over 100 miles. Lakes abounded, even islands had lakes. I was in awe. But that grew to wonder as we neared Alaska with solid cloud cover, yet with clouds shapes unlike any I’d seen before from above. Some clouds formed a Grand Canyon, others mesas. Some were straight rolls like fingers, others rolls curved like sausages on the grill. Think of Fitzgerald’s description of the Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby. The plane departed Seattle at 8:20 with the sun barely above the horizon; upon landing in Anchorage at 10:50, it still hadn’t set.
This “seasoned traveler” had found a whole new world that amazed him, one beyond his experiences and expectations. And realize, until about a century before, no human had ever seen this world. Ever. Even though it was here all the time.
I suspect you get the analogy. I lived 74 years before becoming aware of this whole new world from above, but how many of us are ignorant or ignore the spiritual realm around us? It exists. One of the more striking Daniel stories comes in chapter 10 of his book. He received a revelation but had no clue about the meaning, so he began to fast and pray. Three weeks later, this character appears, “I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude” (verses 5-6).
“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince (Satanic demon) of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (verses 12-13).
With a heavenly battle raging, the omnipotent God’s angelic messenger was stopped for three weeks by an agent of Satan. And Daniel had no clue. Not until the angel told him.
What’s my point? A spiritual world, typically unseen, is all around us. Don’t focus on seeing it, focus on knowing it’s there. Focus on having a tight relationship with God. Focus on building spiritual maturity. Focus on evaluating each event for possible spiritual significance. Focus on having a deep knowledge of God’s word as both an offensive and defensive weapon in the spiritual battle.
Kick Starting the Application
On a daily basis, how much are you aware of the spiritual dimension? Should that grow? Do you perhaps focus too much on it, seeing a demon behind every doorknob? How can you build a healthy awareness of this whole new spiritual world?
PS some passages for further study: 1 Peter 5:8-9. James 4:7. Ephesians 6:10-18.
