2 Kings 6

And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then 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.

(2Ki 6:15-17)

This story is a remarkable picture of the way that faith works, allowing us to see into the realm of the unseen, and the realm of things hoped for. By faith, we can see with an ETERNAL perspective.

Now, our story begins with the king of Syria deciding to wage war against Israel. He doesn’t declare war though; instead he decides to go with the element of surprise. There is one problem though; each time he tries to attack, the Israelites already know before he gets there! He is confused and frustrated, and begins to put together the arrangements for a giant mole hunt… he is convinced there is a traitor in their midst, and he is going to deal with him. The truth comes out though; it is no traitor but this man Elisha. The Lord tells Elisha what is happening before it ever happens!

The king quickly finds out where Elisha is… He is in Dothan. During the night they surround Dothan and prepare to destroy Elisha. Elisha’s servant awakes to find the city surrounded by a massive army and he panics! What are they going to do? Elisha tells him, “Don’t be afraid, there are more with us than with them”. The servant is thinking, “are you on crazy pills!?” He didn’t see many, al he saw was 2! Elisha prays that the Lord would open up his eyes, and what he sees is MINDBLOWING. The servant gets a peak into the spiritual realm, and the armies of heaven are present! Flaming chariots with angelic riders FILL the mountains surrounding them. The Lord was on there side.

Cool story, but what does it mean for us? Will we ever see chariots of fire? Will we ever need to? The application is simple but profound. A very real spiritual realm exists, and a very real spiritual battle rages. We may only ever see the physical manifestations of the trials and tribulations we face, but don’t be deceived… the real battle we are in is not of flesh and blood. By faith we know that the Lord is fighting for us, by faith we can “see” into the realm of the Spirit. It is so easy to forget that there is more to this life than what we see; but today’s story is a great reminder that what you see isn’t always what you get.