Welcome back, sisters! We are going to APPLY 2 Kings 6:8-23 to our lives today. Now, I know what you must be thinking - I have never, ever, EVER seen chariots of fire surrounding me. How can we apply this to our lives? Maybe you have seen real chariots of fire. If so, I would love to hear about it! But just because we have not seen the chariots doesn't mean that God doesn't have His armies surrounding us at all times.
Once again, take the time to read the passage through.
The King of Aram was upset that the King of Israel was guarding the place that he wanted to conquer. The King of Aram thought that one of his servants had snitched on him, but his servants were quick to inform him that the prophet Elisha was the one who told the King of Israel what was going on. The King of Aram decides that he is going to capture Elisha.
The servant of Elisha was terrified when he awoke to see them surrounded by the army of Aram. I asked you to write down how you think you would have felt if you were in that situation. I would love to tell you that I would not be afraid, that I would be confident in my Lord at that time. However, no one truly knows how they are going to react to a situation until they are in that situation. I do know that we can take this lesson from Elisha and realize that no matter what crazy situation we find ourselves in, our God is in control!
Verse 16 is so crucial to this whole story: "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Amen, praise the Lord, hallelujah! God's army is bigger than any other army that will come our way. We are like Elisha's servant in so many ways - seeing the thing that is coming for us and forgetting our God who is always beside us. We may not be able to see the chariots of fire, but it does not matter. No matter what you are facing in your life, God's army is bigger than that. Do not fear, my sister!
Elisha prays for two very specific things in verses 17 & 18. In 17, Elisha prays that his servant would see the miraculous thing that he could see. In verse 18, Elisha prays that the army of Aram would be struck with blindness. Both times, God granted Elisha what he asked for. Elisha had a never-shaking faith in God. He knew that God was on his side and that no matter what happened, God was in control.
In the next few verses, Elisha leads the army of Aram to Samaria, right to the King of Israel. The King of Israel did not know how to react to these people. Thankfully, he had Elisha, guided by God, to help him out. In a strange turn of events, they fed the captives and let them go. The last part of verse 23 tells us that, "the marauding bands of Arameans did not ever again come into the land of Israel."
Once again, as we have studied in the previous weeks, we are reminded that as children of God, we have nothing to fear. Our God is much bigger and much more powerful than anything we will face on earth. We may never have a literal army outside our door, but we have lots of armies that fight us every day - emotional battles, financial battles, personal battles, whatever it may be. Just remember that even though you are fighting battles, God's army is always bigger. And, if we remain faithful to God and His Word, He will remain faithful to us fight these battles for us. Our faith in God cannot waiver, no matter what situation we find ourselves in.
Stay encouraged, my sister. God will never leave us, He is always with us, and His army is larger than we could ever imagine!
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