A sense of calm (2 Kings 6:18)

The Syrian army surrounded the city of Dothan in an attempt to capture Elisha, the “man of God.” The king of Syria was tired of being ratted out by Elisha every time he wanted to attack Israel. So, what does he do? He sends a great army to remove Elisha from the picture. Interesting really… Elisha has this great ability, obviously from God, and the king of Syria thinks he can deal with it in human strength. Elisha is already doing things that are clearly not of human origin, how is this going to be any different?

Well, I love Elisha’s sense of calm. “Men of God” in scripture always seem to have it, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds: Moses vs. Pharaoh and the Egyptians; David vs. Goliath; Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego vs. Nebuchanezzar and the furnace; Daniel vs. the lions; etc… Elisha knows something. And that “something” is the source of his sense of calm. Elisha’s servant, on the other hand, lacks this sense of calm; he has a different sense all together. He panics and looks to his master and asks, “What shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15) His response is not all that different from our own when we are confronted with the “uh oh’s” of life. Where does Elisha’s sense of calm come from? I could use that. Well, Elisha knows that nothing can happen to him that isn’t first allowed by God; he knows that. I love what he says to his fearful servant in vs. 16, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” It reminds me of something the Apostle John would one day write, “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4; ESV) Elisha knew this to be true BUT his servant needed a reminder. Obviously the other great things he had witnessed while serving Elisha were not enough to keep that great truth forefront in his mind. So, Elisha prays for his servants eyes to be open and what does he see? An army of horses and chariots of fire, I am assuming much like the one that carried Elijah off. It says that the “mountain was full” of them and they were “all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17) What a thing to see! If God were to unveil our eyes from such spiritual spectacles how would that impact our own sense of calm? Would we continue to run around with such anxiety and worry? I wonder…