Surrounded

"When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, 'We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place.'

But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, 'Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there.' So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he would be on the alert there.

The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called his officers together and demanded, 'Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans?'

'It’s not us, my lord the king,' one of the officers replied. 'Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!'

'Go and find out where he is,' the king commanded, 'so I can send troops to seize him.'

And the report came back: 'Elisha is at Dothan.' So 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 6:8-17 NLT

Have you ever felt surrounded? Not by good, but evil. You feel helpless, overwhelmed and afraid. Do you know how Elisha's servant felt? I'm sure at some point in everyone's life we feel surrounded. I know that I have. There are times when things can get pretty overwhelming. It may be your health or the health of a loved one. Perhaps you are sinking financially, emotionally, or spiritually. We probably have all cried out, "Oh, what will I do now?"

This passage gives us the answer. Elisha's servant realized he was in over his head. He asked for help. Sometimes we try to gut it out, figure it out, or give in to fear and disparity. The servant asked for help. He cried out for help. The next step was prayer. We need to pray for the needs of ourselves and others. But more that praying for our needs to be met, we need to pray for our eyes to be opened so we can see God moving in our situation. Then we can look up into the eyes of God and see the overwhelming victory we have in Christ Jesus.

I pray that God will open your eyes to see His power, love, mercy and grace in whatever struggle you are in right now.

"In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37 NIV