Thursday, December 17, 2015

2 Kings 6:15 -- On Trusting in the Unseen Truth

"And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?"
2 Kings 6:15


In this verse Elisha's servant is kind of freaked out because they are surrounded by enemies.  And we get that way too, you know?  We see the world around us and we worry that we're surrounded, and overwhelmed.  We fear.  We think that everything is going to either blow up or melt down, and either way, it's not going to end up good.  We sometimes try to control things that we can't control, or even do things that we wouldn't normally do or that we might not think are completely right, because we're afraid that if we don't, things will just get worse.
Elisha's servant couldn't see the future, and he actually couldn't even see the spiritual reality of the present.  Elisha assures him in the next verse that the good outnumbered the bad, but all the servant could see was the enemy.  Elisha then prays that God would open the servant's eyes, and he does.  When his eyes are opened, he sees the horses and chariots of fire protecting them.
I think that our experience in life is an awful lot like Elisha's servant.  It is hard for us to trust God and do as he asks, but only because we can only see with our physical eyes.  We worry because we see all the bad things in society, and those things are definitely scary. But what we don't see is that God is balancing and overpowering those forces with his own.  The future is certain... the happy ending written.  Spoiler: God wins.  And so do we, if we can overcome our fears and trust him enough to do as he asks, despite our fears.  Regardless of the reality that we think is the only thing there to see.
It would have been so easy for Elisha's servant to think that he was crazy, and run away.  It seemed like an impossible situation.  But there was more there than he knew, and he was patient, and God opened his eyes.  And maybe it seems crazy in our world to not be afraid.  Maybe all of the available evidence tells us to panic, to not trust or love or give or serve, or whatever else God asks us to do instead of run, because it's safer and smarter to flee and protect ourselves.  It's a completely logical choice.  But God. :)  God exists, and that changes every equation.  We say alas, and God tells us that it will be okay.  God already knows the ending and the answers and the solutions.  Today, when we start to panic, let's remember that God's protection is all around us, whether we can see it or not.  Let's remember that God is mindful of us as individuals and that the very hairs of our heads are numbered (Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7).  We don't need to fear.  Let's go forward with faith, and trust God, who can see more than we can see, and who has written us a very happy ending.  We just have to stay the course and get there.

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