30 More Days... Day 18

2Kings 6:15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
2Kings 6:16  So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
2Kings 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2Kings 6:18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
2Kings 6:20  So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

Hidden in plain view. I have this ability to lose things in plain view. It is right there in front of me and I can’t see it. I am looking around for someone that I am supposed to be meeting and not see them until they are right on top of me waving and getting my attention. Now I am happy to say that this is not always the case. The fact that it happens more often that I like is bad enough.

We all seem to have this little problem from time to time. In aviation this idea is known as “open field myopia”. It happens when you have a relatively clear, uniform sky in front of you and you are not careful to “keep up your scan” of the sky. What happens is that your eyes, because the have no real focal point, relax and begin to focus on a spot about 18 inches in front of you. When this happens, you can be looking out the window all you like and not see any other airplane. You have to actively, systematically scan the sky so that you don’t get lost in this error.

In a way, I suppose this is what we see here.

Elisha, the man of God after Elijah, the man of God. Like Elijah, Elisha occasionally got involved in politics. In this election season it is good to remember that God often calls His people to be involved in these processes and to have a good and godly influence on them ... but that is another topic. We are talking about prayer.

There has been a time of war and the Syrians have been causing trouble ... well, they wanted to cause trouble, but Elisha kept telling the king of Israel where the Syrian army was and what it was doing. This, of course, gave the Israelites a distinct tactical advantage. Talk about having a “God’s eye view”. The king of Syria was sure there must be a “mole” among his advisors, but then he is told, “no it is just Elisha”. Maybe it is just pride, but I would think that if a guys sitting in a town some distance away was able to track my troop movement without leaving home that I might be tempted to admit defeat. God is working against me and nothing good can come of this. However, that is not his reaction. He sends his army after Elisha. I don’t know how exactly you plan to sneak up on a guy that always knows what your next move is, but that doesn’t seem to bother this king or keep him from trying. He sends a great army of horses and chariots off to Dothan where Elisha is staying. Again I am a bit amazed by the tactics. This Elisha has been telling the king exactly where to find enemy troops and camps, however, maybe if we go up by night.... Yeah, that might work!

Actually if they had only been after Elisha’s servant it would have worked. His servant gets up in the morning. He probably set off about his work. He probably walks outside the door of the place they are living or looks out the window, and his jaw drops to the floor. That will wake you up faster than your morning cup of coffee, but it is also probably worse on the heart as well. I can almost imagine him running back to his master. Big... big ... big ... big ... big problem... big! He is totally surprised. Fortunately for him, Elisha is not. Not only is he not surprised, but he already knows what the next step as well. The servants wants to know what do we do? That’s it! We’re done! There is no escape! There is no sending coordinates to the king of Israel. No cell, not sat. phone. There is definitely no calling in an air strike. And, I am sure that the next words that Elisha has to say to his servant must have sounded incredulous. There are more with us than with them.

Again you can almost see the servant doing the math. One plus one.... and if they would just hold still maybe I could count them but I am pretty sure that it takes more than two to surround Dothan. I am sure that even stopping to consider any population in Dothan would not have encouraged him that the odds were in their favor. This is where prayer comes in.

Elisha prays. He asked God to open the eyes of his servant.

What a beautiful picture. How often do we only see the physical, logical, everyday solid objects that surround us? How often are we tricked into thinking that this is all there is to it. We can be so blinded to the spiritual world. It is here that we most often lose the battle. The things around us, the cold hard facts and figures ... they are all that we see and understand. This is why Paul has to remind us in Ephesians that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. He tells us in 2 Corinthians that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty to pull down strongholds and cast down imaginations - anything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. He encourages us not to look on outward appearances. The enemy can overpower us if we look at what is seen, even though we have so much power at our disposal. Elisha already sees the truth of the situation. He is not concerned. He knows that he has no reason to fear. He also knows that the servant doesn’t see things as he does. That is why he prays. He prays to God for his servant to see as he sees. He wants the servant to see the truth that he knows so well. Ultimately it is God who must open the eyes. It is God who must reveal the truth. The prayer is simple, yet full of concern for another. Please God let him see!

Suddenly the perspective of the servant must have changed. They are not the ones surrounded after all. It is this great army that is surrounded and without hope of escape. What an army he and Elisha have protecting them. Chariots of fire fill the hills. Horses of fire stamping and ready for the fight. Now he knows that he has nothing to fear, even when the charge of the enemy comes.

There is however another problem. The enemy sees only with physical eyes. They believe that they have the superior force. There will be a confrontation. They will charge. They are like the pharisees. They think they see and understand. They claim to know better. They will attack. So again Elisha prays and asks God to strike the Syrians blind. The servant had his eyes open so that he could see the spiritual strength in which he stood. The army had their eyes blinded so that they would not trust in their perceived but anemic strength. They are led to Samaria where again Elisha prays that they will see again. They now see that their situation truly is hopeless. Again we have a beautiful picture. It is the mercy and compassion of God. Rather than run these troops into a spiritual massacre He takes all their strength and shows them the true hopelessness of their own strength. Then just when all seems lost they are fed, they are shown mercy and they are returned unharmed to their homes and families.

Each prayer has its purpose. For the servant it is a prayer for one whose faith is faltering. He sees the glory of God and is given a fresh look on all his struggles. For the army it is a pray for mercy for those marching to their deaths. It is a prayer to show them that all they are trusting in and holding onto are lies, yet they can find mercy from God. They are rushing to destruction only to have someone lead them to life (ironically the very one they are attacking), but first their sight, their strength ... what they trust in ... must be shown for what it is, nothing. Then their eyes can be opened so that they can see. Grace. Mercy. Compassion.

Prayer Request
* Pray for our friends Miro, Mateja and their daughters Lia and Enja. We have enjoyed our friendship with them and continue to do things with them. Christian loves spending time with the girls and they are happy to see him as well. They know why we are here but are not really open to spiritual things. Ask that God would soften their hearts and open opportunities to share the gospel with them. Also pray for them as they consider buying a house or building one and all that goes along with such an endeavor. It can be a stress and unknown to know what is best.