February 8

“There are more with us than there are with them…”

            When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” Then Elisha prayed: “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, please, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.

2 Kings 6:15-18

            The kingdom of Aram was invading Israel.  Their army was bigger and stronger, but they could never find the Israelite army in order to have a deciding battle.  The Aramean king was furious and called his council together to discover who the traitor was that kept leaking his plans to the enemy.  His advisors told him that it was not the work of a traitor but an Israelite prophet.  Elisha would tell the Israelite king where to send his army to avoid open conflict and what attacks the Arameans were unprepared for.  The Aramean king sent an army to deal with the prophet.

            Elisha’s servant woke up and opened his door to greet the day.  Instead he found an enemy army approaching, intent on doing harm.  Panicked, he ran to his master and pulled him to the door to see their dire situation.  Elisha calmly told his servant to relax for they outnumbered the enemy.  The servant then looked to the surrounding mountains and saw the heavenly army in flaming chariots, ready to fight on their behalf.  What a moment.  To realize that you are not alone…not isolated…not doomed.  To realize that the strength of your enemy is nothing compared to the strength of your God.  To realize that the aggression of your enemy is based out of arrogance and ignorance, not true strength.

            Elisha blinds the enemy army.  He leads them to the Israelite capital and then brokers a peace between the Arameans and the Israelites and the invaders humbly return to their country.  The great war is over without a single recorded casualty.  That is the power of our God.

            I love this story, especially the idea of being able to see the spiritual realities of this life.  We so often feel isolated and fall into despair.  We feel the pressures of work and home and parenting and society bearing down on us.  We wonder how we could possibly stand in the face of the world’s darkness.  If we could only catch a glimpse of God’s might…if we could see God moving and working and providing for us daily…if we could see that “There are more with us than there are with them,” then perhaps we would find our courage and our strength.  Perhaps we would stand and speak out.  Perhaps we would walk with confidence into the shadows of our communities in order to bring healing to our world’s broken places.

            What if we knew?  What if we knew that when we dropped our child at school, they had an angelic escort waiting for them?  What if we knew that our IEP meetings were held in small rooms filled with heavenly allies?  What if we knew that the number of people listening to us testify and advocate was dwarfed by the number of warriors of heaven standing with us and encouraging us?  What if we knew at 3am, when it is dark outside and we have been up all night trying to comfort our child, that we were not alone…not abandoned…not hopeless?

May God open our eyes.

A moment to reflect:

Do you relate more with Elisha or his servant?  What do you need to see from God to be encouraged?