Text: 2 Kings 6:8-23
“O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” —2 Kings 6:17
Perhaps you’ve been praying for your circumstances to change when God might just want to open your eyes to a better reality. Maybe you’ve been freaking out because you sense the enemy is closing in all around and you feel outnumbered. Today’s passage in 2 Kings 6 might offer you some timely encouragement.
The king of Syria had been warring against Israel, but with each strategic move, Israel already knew exactly what was coming beforehand and was prepared for it. Every time the Syrian army tried to make a surprise attack, God had already exposed those plans to the king of Israel by divine revelation through the prophet Elisha.
It reminds me of the 2003 Super Bowl, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense seemed to know every play the Oakland Raiders offense was going to run before they even snapped the ball. Come to find out, it was in fact the reality. Coach Jon Gruden of Tampa Bay had been the head coach of the Raiders the previous season and had written most of their offensive playbook. The Bucs defense snuffed out each play because they knew what was coming before they even got to the line of scrimmage. They knew their opponent’s playbook!
The fact that Israel knew the king of Syria’s playbook infuriated him. At first, he thought there might be a traitor among his people. But then his servants told him, “The prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” Therefore, he decided to seize this prophetic informant. He sent a great army with horses and chariots by night to surround Dothan, the city where Elisha had been residing. When Elisha’s servant rose early in the morning and went out, he was terrified. They were surrounded by the enemy and yet Elisha still had perfect peace (see Isaiah 26:3).
Elisha told his servant, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed one of the coolest prayers in the Bible. Initially, he didn’t pray for God to change anything about the reality of their given circumstances. His initial request was only that his servant would have his eyes opened to a better reality—that God was surrounding the armies that were surrounding them. 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,” as the prophet of God was being reinforced by the army of the LORD.
Wow! If we could just see what God has already surrounded in our own lives, imagine the peace and joy we would experience. Elisha’s servant had been looking but not seeing. He was looking at the odds stacked against them but not seeing the hand of God holding a royal flush! Sometimes we only look at the disappointments or discouragements and miss the hand of God at work in those events. We might fear that the world has been overcome by evil and there’s no way out. We look and understand that we are surrounded, but we don’t always see that what surrounds us is surrounded by God Himself. This is where Elisha’s prayer is a great model for us in addressing our spiritual blindness. We can pray, “Open our eyes, Lord, that we may see.” We will see that Jesus has already won the victory. Christ already rules in heaven and all of the kingdoms of this world are subject to His reign. Every last one of them!
I love how this passage progresses. God’s people have their eyes opened while His enemies are stricken with blindness. The path of the redeemed only gets clearer while the path of the godless only leads to more confusion. As it is recorded in Isaiah 58:8, “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.”
Perhaps having your eyes opened to a better reality is what you need more right now than any change in your present circumstances. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
Lord, open our eyes so that we can see what you want us to see about the real truth surrounding our given circumstances. Holy Spirit, empower us to live fearlessly when we feel surrounded by the enemy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection and/or Group Discussion
- How was the king of Israel avoiding the king of Syria again and again? (2 Kings 6:9-10)
- How did the Syrian king assume the enemy was getting privileged information? (v.11) What did one of the officers tell the king of Aram about his “security leak”? (v.12)
- What was the reaction of Elisha’s servant when he saw the army of Aram surrounding the city? (v.15)Why was Elisha not alarmed by what the servant reported? (v.16)
- What did Elisha ask God to show his servant? (v.17) How did the war between Aram and Israel go after this incident? (vv.18-23)
- What problem might seem less intimidating if you asked God to open your eyes to a better reality?
Subscribe to “Abiding In Him” and get the latest devotional in your Inbox once a week.
