1 Kings 14:4-5 – Develop a keen spiritual perception

At Jeroboam's instruction, his wife disguised herself and went to Shiloh looking for Ahijah. By this time, the prophet's eyesight was dim for he was advanced in years.  However, his spiritual perception was sharper than his physical sight. He was very attuned to the Lord, who alerted him even as Jeroboam’s wife was approaching his house, disguised as another woman. He said to him, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick.” He even revealed that she would be pretending to be another woman before instructing Ahijah on what he was to say to her.

It seemed obvious that Jeroboam had lost all sense of spirituality. He viewed Ahijah’s ministry only from the human perspective, without realizing that God was the source of the prophet’s insight. Hebrews 4:13 made a very poignant and important point that we need to know. It says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” None of us should be tempted to think that God cannot see through our disguise. He can see through all our camouflages in life. There is a song that Sunday school children are taught. The lyrics underscore the importance of acting uprightly in life because we have a God who can see through everything. The song tells us that God is looking at us all the time. One stanza of the song says, “Oh, be careful little hands what you do. For there’s a Father up above, looking down in tender love. Oh, be careful little hands what you do.” We serve an all-seeing God, so be circumspect in all that we do.  

One more lesson to take note of. Spiritual perception plays a very critical role in discerning spiritual truth. It is good to have great functional physical sight, but spiritual sight is more needful to know the will and critical plan of God. The Bible tells us that spiritual truths are spiritually discerned. This being the case, it is foolish of us to do God’s work only with our natural minds. We need to hone the skill of discernment to increase our spiritual perception. Here are some steps to help us do that. Firstly, we need to stay constantly connected with God. Secondly, we must study the Word of God and seek to know it well. For the will of God is revealed through His Word. Thirdly, we learn to exercise the consciousness of God’s presence in every moment of our lives. Finally, we depend on the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Never leave Him out of our life’s equation even for a moment!