Weekly Devotion #9
“One night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ Elisha told him. ‘For there are more on our side than on theirs!’ Then Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!’ The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” – 2 Kings 6:14-17
What a spectacular image that this story portrays! Here, we see that Elijah and his troops were in what seemed like a hopeless situation… Their enemy had come in the middle of the night, surrounded them, and planned to kill them… I don’t know about you, but if there was an entire army of soldiers surrounding me with direct orders to kill me, I would feel pretty helpless too. This is how Elijah’s servant felt… but Elijah had his eyes fixed on greater things than this world! His first response was to pray, and when he did, the servant was able to see that yes, there was a physical army surrounding them… But Heaven’s army was also set up to fight and was surrounding the enemy! And doesn’t this sound so familiar in our own lives…? How often do you experience the worst anxiety, depression, loneliness, worry, or dark thoughts, in the middle of the night..? Why is it that the enemy often comes for you in the middle of the night — when ur laying in bed and alone… when you’re by yourself… it’s because that’s an easy battle. You see it in nature too — when a pack of wolves, or any pack for that matter, goes hunting they never try and take out the whole group of prey, they go for the one that has fallen away from the rest of them because when it’s alone, it’s an easy battle. But I encourage you, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Even when it feels like it… And this is the flaw in Satan’s plan every time: your Father is always on the front line ready to defend you. God never fails to show up — He’s always with you! So when anxiety, depression, and insecurity come… ask God to open your eyes just like He did the servant’s…. ask God to reveal Himself and watch as Heaven’s army fights for you. God wants to give you peace, joy, comfort, energy, confidence, and strength — just ask Him to reveal Himself. GOD ALWAYS WINS! He is strong in you, and thus, YOU ARE STRONG!