The King of Syria found out that Elisha had told the King of Israel about the plot against Israel. The next morning, Elisha and his servant awoke to see that the King of Syria had sent soldiers, horses and chariots against them. Elisha's servant became afraid and asked, "alas, what should we do?" (2 Kings 6:15).
Elisha answered, ""Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them". And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray You, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."" (2 Kings 6:16-17).
The servant saw the Syrian army and responded with reasonable fear to a looming threat becasue as 1 Corinthians 15 puts it, he saw as "the first man (Adam) is from the earth, earthy" and at that moment he "bore the image of the earthy". He saw "that which can kill the body" and feared it "more than that which can kill the soul (Matthew 10:28)".
Elisha saw the Syrian army and God's horses and chariots of fire because by grace, he had the sight and interpretation of "the second man (Christ) from heaven" and at that moment he was "bear(ing) the image of the heavenly (I Corinthians 15)". His spiritual eyes had been opened to see God's sovereign design with physical eyes.
No one, not even Elisha, 'sees' with spiritual eyes all the time. However, the journey with Jesus Christ is always toward clearer spiritual sight. The chariots of God are always present, but fears regularly blind physical sight from seeing them in the face of lesser, earthy threats.
Christ emptied Himself into human flesh to be the vehicle of salvation from the eternal consequences of sin, with perfect sight of all threats to himself that would ensue. So now, all the chariots and horses of all the earthy kings are vehicles toward Heaven and Home.
