Have you ever looked for something like your keys or phone - and they turned out to be right there all along? I’m frequently mislaying things at home but they usually turn up…

In general life too we can feel like we’re missing something. Hard to put our finger on, but maybe there’s that sense something’s amiss. Even if we’ve got everything we need materially, somehow deep down there’s a nagging feeling of absence…

God has already given us the answer to this: His Holy Spirit. He is God’s personal presence with us. Only through Him can we know God. He is God. He’s our Comforter and Friend; our Teacher. Since Pentecost he is freely available and through our faith in Christ, always with us. But we so often miss him, neglect him or forget him. Sometimes we grieve him without even realising.

In the Bible there are various metaphors used to describe the Spirit’s power and presence. Now that we’ve celebrated Pentecost, over the next four weeks we’re looking at some of these metaphors as we reflect on episodes from the lives of Elijah and Elisha in the book of Kings.

One time Elisha prayed that his servant would see heaven’s armies surrounding them. He prayed, ‘O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.’ (2 Kings 6:17). The servant’s spiritual eyes were opened and he saw a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around.

Let’s make our prayer the same: ‘O LORD open our eyes that we may see what – or who - is in fact all around and right here with us’.

God bless

Dan