The Syrians had invaded the land of Israel, but they failed to make further progress there. Their designs were so often anticipated that the King of Syria concluded that some one in his army must be spying for the King of Israel. His servants protested saying that the betrayal of the King’s designs were due to the keen sight of God’s prophet Elisha. Hearing this, the King sent horses and chariots and a great army to fetch the prophet, who was in Dothan, a town about an hour from the capital of Seria. The army came at night and in the morning Elisha’s servant rose up and saw the Syrian forces totally encompassing the city. He was rightfully afraid, but Elisha had faith! Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant, and when his eyes were opened, he saw the much larger force of God’s soldiers surrounding the Serian army!
Oh, that we would see the invisible for the hand of God at work in our lives! We often forget that a vision of God at work is the “real deal,” and the sights of our enemies’ work is not the heart of life! We often forget that faith opens the doors of Heaven for us today!
Courage is the need of all humankind. Rightly understood we see the dramatic splendor of the battlefield. It is seeing the invisible that makes the difference between hope and despair. We often want to cry “uncle!” and give up, but God’s Word declares that “they that are with us are more than they that lie against us!”
Because the people of faith can minimize their losses! Faith in the unseen of life, faith in love, faith in righteousness, and faith in truth allows us to tap into the conquering spirit of the living God that lifts us above our circumstances. It shows us the mightier powers at work around us. It kindles the souls of Christians to claim and hold the mastery that they feel in their hearts ought to be theirs and thus they are invincible. I challenge all of us to be people of faith and not of fear! Believe that we serve the Almighty, Who is superior to all else!
