Surrounded

You know, sometimes it’s easy for us to get down or feel like we’re all alone, struggling through the difficulties of our lives. It’s easy to see all the bad that we come into contact with everyday, easy to become discouraged from all the times we’ve failed. We fall into despair.

In 2 Kings 6, there’s an account of someone who felt just that way. And I want to thank my friend Harris for mentioning this to me a couple of weeks ago, and to Randy for reading from this passage tonight. It was a great thought and one that should be shared. In 2 Kings 6, Syria was involved in a war against Israel (doesn’t sound too far-fetched for today either, does it?), but they were having limited success because Elisha, God’s prophet, had been supplying information about Syria to the Israelite king. When Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria discovered this, he was furious. He discovered that Elisha was staying in the city of Dothan, so he sent a great army there, and they surrounded the city by night.

The next morning, Elisha’s servant arose early and went out, only to find the army encamped around their city! The servant ran to Elisha distraught. But Elisha answered him, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes be opened. The mountains all around them were full of chariots and horses of fire.

The Lord takes care of his own. We’re promised this, but it’s so easy to forget it! And Satan wants us to forget it. When things are at their worst, what would we see if God would open our eyes in that way? I think we would see something very like what Elisha’s servant saw. How comforting! We’re never really alone. As 1 Cor 10:13 tells us, God ensures that we never face more than we are able to bear. He’s placed a protective shield around us – an army of flaming chariots, and we can take comfort in the fact that when we’re burdened by tragedy or filled with sorrow, God knows and cares.