2 Kings 6:16-17
“‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
I think it’s fair to say that most people are very aware these days that there is more to the world than meets the eye. As a microscopic virus imperceptibly spread to nearly every corner of the globe, it was probably the invisible nature of the threat that frightened us the most. Everything and everyone around us – from our neighbors to the shopping cart at the grocery store to the mail in our mailboxes – could be crawling with deadly viruses waiting to infect us. Or perhaps it had already infected us and we were unknowingly spreading it to our loved ones, since it seemed many people carrying the virus were asymptomatic. One more way the threat was hiding in the realm of reality that the human eye simply cannot perceive on its own.
Of course we are scared of coronavirus. None of us is all that comfortable with things we can’t see.
That’s why I keep coming back to this passage in 2 Kings. Like a scene out of a great spy movie, the king of Aram keeps having his plans foiled because it seems like the king of Israel always knows what he’s about to do before he does it. The king of Aram suspects he’s got a mole on his team but it turns out the king of Israel is getting his information from Elisha the prophet. Needless to say, the king of Aram is less than thrilled and sends his spies to find Elisha so he can be “dealt with”. Elisha is found in the city of Dothan, so the king loses no time. Under the cover of darkness, he moves his army into place and surrounds the city.
Early the next morning, Elisha’s servant sees what’s going on outside and reacts about how you might expect. When the sun went down the evening before, there was no army threatening, and now literally overnight it seemed that the whole city was doomed. “Oh no! What shall we do?” is how the NIV translation records his response, but I wonder if some of his reaction might have been lost in translation. I think if this guy had had a smartphone, there would have been a picture of the army on Instagram with some rather course language written all in caps, hashtag #wereallgonnadie. It would be cross-posted to Facebook where he would instantly have 30 comments that stoked his fear and also told him who was to blame for his imminent demise.
Without access to all that “helpful” technology, the servant runs to Elisha with his fear and panic. He finds Elisha calm in the face of the crisis, and Elisha tells him not to be afraid. Are you seeing the pattern yet with people who are really close to God and their response to crisis? Don’t. Be. Afraid.
Elisha doesn’t even ask him to have faith in something he can’t see. Rather, he asks God to open the man’s eyes so that he can see the invisible reality about who is actually surrounding who.
Friends, the realms of reality that our eyes can’t perceive on their own are not restricted to microbiology and pandemic-causing viruses. The news is not all bad. The threat of the virus is real and we should all be taking reasonable precautions. But far too many Jesus followers are in the public sphere and social media acting more like the servant than like Elisha. If people who are close to God are known for being calm in the face of crisis and encouraging the faith of the people around them, then perhaps we should all take a hard look at how we’re responding to the current situation. If someone were to scroll through your Facebook posts or email history for the past couple of months, would they see the attitude of the faithful prophet or the hysterical posture of his servant before his eyes were opened.
I suspect we all have areas where we need to ask God to “Open our eyes so we may see.”
If you’re wondering how the story turned out, no one from Aram’s army was harmed and the way Elisha handled it resulted in peace between the nations. It’s definitely worth reading.
Moment of Beauty
This is one artist’s rendering of what Elisha’s servant may have seen when his eyes were opened. It’s a beautiful reminder that just because we can’t see God’s response to our difficulties doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly powerful. I’m reminded of the words of the worship song: “This is how I fight my battles. It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you.” As you contemplate the painting, pray that God would open your eyes to see how he is fighting your battles for you, and has a plan to bring peace for everyone involved.
Painting used with permission from artist Bill Osborne.
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