Those that be for you: 2 Kings 6:8-18

The King of Syria sent an army to capture Elisha. When Elisha’s servant awoke the city was surrounded and there was no escape, he petitioned his master ‘how shall we do?’ Elisha answered ‘Fear not: for they that be with us are more that they that be with them’. Then Elisha prayed that his servant could see what he saw – and a vision of horses and chariots of fire surrounding the prophet was revealed.

Elisha’s opening the eyes of his servant is the quintessential concept of the gospel. That there is much more going on than we can see with our eyes. To be a faithful follower is an understanding that there is lots going on that we can’t see, and much going on behind the scenes in our behalf.

At the heart of this experience is the idea of a spiritual veil separating us from this heavenly perspective.  As Latter Day Saints we recognize a veil between us and those that have died and also a veil of forgetfulness that masks our past pre-birth existence and godly beginnings.  Our royal lineage is hidden from us by this veil of amnesia and our eternal potential also obscured from our view. In this valley of mediocrity we wallow aware that there is something else but not quite able to put our finger on it.

Having this gospel narrative gives us a hope that while we struggle with our mortality that there is something much greater that we are accomplishing. By being aware of the eternal possibilities we can use our time more productively and with much more purpose.

If we exercise faith and pray for greater understanding, the veil can be pulled back a little or become very thin and we too can see at least a portion of what is really going on.

A new perpective!