In 2016, during a visit to Germany, I met someone whose family had been involved in humanitarian and missionary work in Maharashtra, India, for many years.
They led a dedicated team working tirelessly among vulnerable children and communities—tackling hunger, improving access to education, and helping make medical care affordable for those who needed it most. Their focus was especially on children, and over the years, their work had made a significant difference in the lives of many children and families.
But their journey had not been without opposition.
During our conversation, he told me about a disturbing incident that had occurred decades earlier—an incident his family would never forget.
From the early days of the ministry, the family had faced threats and even ultimatums to leave. Yet they refused to abandon the work they believed God had called them to do. They held on, prayed, and trusted that the God who had called them to serve the community would carry them through every struggle, threat, and hardship.
Then came one unforgettable night.
That Shocking Night
It was sometime in the early 1990s.
In the middle of the night, one of the women caring for the children suddenly woke to the sound of loud, repeated thuds.
Something was hitting the wall.
She got up to investigate and discovered a frightening scene. One of the little girls living at the facility, five-year-old Susheela, was repeatedly head-butting the wall of the house.
Alarmed and deeply concerned, the woman rushed toward her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
The little girl’s answer was chilling.
“My mother and my brother are outside. They are calling me.”
Susheela believed that her mother and brother were standing somewhere outside the house, calling her to come to them. Unable to find a way out, she had begun desperately hitting her head against the wall, apparently trying to break through it to reach them.
But the woman knew that Susheela’s mother was not outside.
She tried to reassure the child.
“Your mother isn’t outside.”
But Susheela was relentless.
She could hear her.
She was certain.
So the woman took the little girl outside and looked around the area with her.
There was no one there.
No mother.
No brother.
No visible person calling her.
“See, there is no one here,” the woman told her.
But Susheela remained certain.
“I can hear her. She is calling me.”
By then, the commotion had awakened the other children. They gathered together and began to worship God. After some time, Susheela was distracted and eventually settled down, and everyone returned to sleep.
But the next morning, the woman wanted to know exactly what had happened.
She spoke to Susheela again.
The girl’s story had not changed.
She remained certain that she had heard the voices of her mother and brother calling her from outside the house. She had desperately wanted to reach them, and when she couldn’t find a way out, she resorted to repeatedly head-butting the wall.
Whatever one makes of that mysterious night, the family saw it as a sobering reminder of the unseen dangers from which God had protected the little girl.
What might have happened if she had found a way outside?
Where would she have gone?
What—or who—was she following?
They would never know.
But they knew this:
She had remained inside.
She was safe.
We May Not See It, but God Is Still Protecting Us
Over the years, this missionary family had already faced opposition, threats, and hardships because of their ministry. Yet this incident strengthened their conviction that they were not alone.
The God who had called them had not abandoned them.
The God who had sent them was still watching over them.
And perhaps that is something all of us need to remember.
We may not always see the dangers from which God protects us.
We see the accident that happens. But we don’t see the accidents that never happened.
We see the door that closed. But we don’t always see what was waiting behind it.
We see the journey we took. But we don’t see the dangers God may have quietly turned away from our path.
We see what reached us.
We don’t see everything that was prevented from reaching us.
The psalmist wrote:
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”— Psalm 91:1–2
What a beautiful picture.
The shelter of the Most High.
The shadow of the Almighty.
My refuge.
My place of safety.
Psalm 91 does not tell us that we will understand every danger around us. It tells us where our refuge is found.
In God.
There Is More to Reality Than What Our Eyes Can See
Many people today dismiss the idea of a spiritual world. They consider belief in angels, demons, and unseen spiritual beings to be something belonging to an ancient and less enlightened age.
If something cannot be seen, touched, or measured, they assume it cannot be real.
But the Bible presents a very different picture of reality.
Scripture tells us that there is an unseen spiritual realm. It speaks of angels. It speaks of evil spiritual powers. It speaks of spiritual conflict. And it reminds us that the physical world we see with our eyes is not the entirety of existence.
Paul wrote:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
— Ephesians 6:12
The unseen is not unreal simply because it is unseen.
We cannot see the wind, but we see its effects.
We cannot see gravity, but we experience its power.
And according to Scripture, there is a spiritual reality beyond what our physical eyes can perceive.
But the Christian’s message is not one of fear.
We do not live looking nervously over our shoulders for demons.
We do not live terrified of darkness.
We look to Jesus.
Because Scripture says:
“The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”— 1 John 4:4
Our confidence is not in our ability to understand everything happening around us.
Our confidence is in the One who is greater than everything around us.
An Unseen Army
There is a remarkable story in 2 Kings 6.
The prophet Elisha and his servant were surrounded by an enemy army. When the servant woke up and saw horses and chariots surrounding the city, he was terrified.
But Elisha said something extraordinary:
“Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”— 2 Kings 6:16
The servant couldn’t understand.
He could see the enemy army.
But where was the army Elisha was talking about?
Then Elisha prayed:
“Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”
And suddenly the servant saw what had been there all along:
“The hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”— 2 Kings 6:17
The army had not suddenly appeared.
It was already there.
The servant simply couldn’t see it.
And perhaps that is the truth we so often forget.
We see the threat.
God sees everything.
We see what is against us.
God knows what is for us.
We see the visible.
God rules over both the visible and the invisible.
We may never know how many times God has protected us from dangers we didn’t even know existed.
We may never know how many doors He closed.
How many paths He redirected.
How many disasters never reached us.
How many unseen battles were fought beyond the reach of our eyes.
But we can know this:
God is our refuge.
God is our place of safety.
And we can trust Him.
One Day, We Will All Stand Before God
The reality of the spiritual world also points us toward a greater and more personal question.
Our bodies will not live forever.
One day, every one of us will die. Our bodies will return to the earth, but death is not the end of our existence. Scripture tells us that we will stand before God.
And so the most important question is not whether we believe that spiritual beings exist.
The most important question is:
Do we know Jesus Christ?
Christianity is not merely about believing that there is an unseen world. It is about knowing the One who entered our world to save us.
Jesus Christ died for our sins.
He was buried.
He rose again.
And through Him, forgiveness and eternal life are offered freely to all who believe.
If you have never put your trust in Jesus, there is no better time than now.
You do not need to clean yourself up first.
You do not need to make yourself worthy.
You do not need to promise God that you will become a better person.
Come as you are.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Receive the forgiveness He purchased for you.
Receive the life He freely gives.
Because the greatest protection God offers is not merely protection from the dangers of this temporary life.
It is eternal life in Jesus Christ.
And even when we cannot see what surrounds us, we can rest in the words of the psalmist:
“He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”— Psalm 91:2
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