With Eyes Wide Open
“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? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire about Elisha.” II Kings 6:15-17
Every Sunday before my pastor preaches his sermon, he has us all stand up, hold up our Bibles, and repeat Psalm 119:18: “Open my eyes, that I might see, wonderful words from Your law.” God will reveal Himself to those who diligently seek Him through prayer and Bible study. God wants people to know Him, that He is a loving God who longs to have fellowship with His creation, and that He did everything necessary to bring lost sinners into a right relationship with Him. He also stands ready to forgive, to help and comfort in times of need, and to restore broken relationships with others. He will protect His people and supply the things necessary to sustain life on earth. As we depend on Him, we will find the joy and peace that folks seek.
Speaking of God’s help in times of need, the prophet Elisha had irritated the king of Syria, one of Israel’s major enemies, because Elisha had been giving information about Syria to the king of Israel. Because of this, the king of Syria decided to hunt down Elisha and capture him. He sent horses and chariots along with a great army of Syria’s fighting men to search for Elisha. Elisha’s new servant, a young man who had likely been somewhat sheltered as he grew into adulthood, looked out the window and saw these fierce looking soldiers of the Syrian army mounted on their giant steeds, some pulling massive chariots ready to capture Elisha. The servant was exceedingly frightened, and who wouldn’t have been? He had likely never faced a situation like this one before. He asked Elisha as to what the two of them were going to do.
To calm his servant down, Elisha told him not to be afraid because there were more on their side and in their defense than there were of those who were out to capture them. The servant must have thought, “What’s up with that?” When he looked out the window, he only saw the enemy. However, he was about to witness the power of God which would protect Elisha and himself. Elisha prayed to the LORD to “open his eyes that he may see”. God did open the eyes of the servant, who looked out the window and saw a mountain covered with horses and chariots of fire, not those of the enemy, but those from God’s protective army of angels. Elisha asked God to strike the enemy’s army with blindness, and He did. Elisha then led them into Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel, and an unusual thing happened, The king of Israel wanted to kill the Syrian soldiers, but Elisha told him to feed them and send them home. Israel’s king had enough confidence in Elisha to oblige his request. Because of Elisha’s obedience to the LORD, no one died that day, and Elisha’s servant learned a very important truth about depending on the LORD.
This account hits home, especially in our day of pandemic, chaos, political upheaval, and hatred between various groups. Sometimes believers look at the news on television or on line, and all we can see are the effects of the enemy, Satan, as he works through people who do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We, too, become frightened, like Elisha’s servant, because, again like him, we have not experienced such a time as we are experiencing now. We don’t have Elisha standing nearby to ask, “What are we going to do?”, but we do have Someone much greater than Elisha, One to whom we can depend on to be with us at all times and lead us onto the right path. Let’s open our eyes and look for the power and protection of the Lord to see us through whatever we are facing. Let’s do not let the world’s turmoil get us down or make us fearful for “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world”(I John 4:4).