Christians have long believed there is more to reality than what our senses can detect. Scripture opens windows into an unseen realm of angels, spiritual conflict and eternity. In 2 Kings 6, Elisha prays, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see,” and God allows his servant to witness heavenly armies surrounding them. That moment reflects a biblical truth many feel but struggle to defend: the supernatural is real.
Lee Strobel understands that struggle. “I’m a skeptic by nature,” he told Lakepointe Church. “My degrees are in journalism and law. I tend to want evidence. I tend to want data. I tend to want corroboration.” His search became the basis of his book Seeing the Supernatural.
In his message, he offered five categories of evidence that he believes strongly affirm the unseen realm.
1. Documented miracles
Strobel argues that God still intervenes today — and that some cases rise beyond storytelling. He points to a woman who had been blind for 12 years, who instantly regained her sight while her husband prayed over her.
“She opened her eyes and saw her husband for the first time,” he said. Four medical researchers documented the case in a peer-reviewed journal. Strobel concluded, “We can reasonably and rationally conclude that a miracle has occurred” when credible witnesses, medical documentation and the context of prayer align.
2. Deathbed visions
“A deathbed vision is when someone is on the verge of dying and just before they die, they look and they see what’s to come,” Strobel explained. He noted how Stephen saw heaven before his martyrdom in Acts 7.
Modern research suggests these experiences are common. In one hospice study, “Eighty-eight percent of them had a pre-death vision.” Some include striking corroboration — such as Doris, who saw her deceased sister in heaven even though no one had told her the sister had died. Strobel concluded, “These are encounters with the supernatural.”
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3. Near-death experiences
“In a near-death experience, the person is clinically dead,” Strobel said, yet many report seeing events they could not have known — such as a red sticker atop a ceiling fan blade that only someone looking from above could see.
He cited a study of blind people who reported seeing during near-death episodes. One researcher called it “impossible according to current medical knowledge.” Strobel said these accounts affirm “beyond a reasonable doubt that the Bible is telling us the truth — when we die, our spirit does separate from our body.”
4. Contemporary encounters with angels
“The Bible anticipates that some people will have interactions with angels in this lifetime,” Strobel said, referencing Hebrews 1:14 and 13:2. He shared the story of missionary John G. Paton, whose home was surrounded by an unseen army. When mob members were later asked why they didn’t attack, they replied, “Your house was surrounded by all these muscular men dressed in white with drawn swords.”
Strobel said, “I don’t know how else to explain that.”
5. Mystical dreams and visions among Muslims
Strobel noted that “more Muslims have become followers of Jesus Christ in the last couple of decades than in the 1,400 years since Muhammad,” and as many as one-third report a supernatural dream or vision about Jesus before conversion.
He emphasized that their dreams point them to external confirmation. He recounted Nor, a mother in Cairo who dreamed of Jesus and was told, “Ask my friend tomorrow about me.” The next day, she met the very man from her dream — an underground church planter — who spent hours showing her Christ in Scripture. Strobel says this pattern is “literally sweeping the Middle East.”
Strobel believes these streams form a reasonable conclusion: “The Bible is telling us the truth, that there really is a supernatural realm beyond what we can see and touch.”
For believers, these accounts don’t replace Scripture — they underline it. Let these stories strengthen your confidence, but let God’s Word anchor your faith. Return to promises like John 14, reminders such as Hebrews 9:27 and the assurance of 1 John 5:13.
As Strobel reminded his listeners, “Someday you are going to close your eyes for the last time in this world, and you’re going to open them in the world to come.”
Until then, walk encouraged — the unseen God is still at work, and His Word remains the surest evidence of all.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
