“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “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.”
2 Kings 6:15-17 NIV

I love this encounter of Elisha and the servant because I can easily find myself in the exchange. The servant looks out and sees they are surrounded and he asks, “what shall we do?” The truth is, more often than not, I look at the battles and situations surrounding me and, in fear, think, “What am I going to do?” At times, one glance at the battles around me makes me just want to surrender in defeat. However, look again at the prayer Elisha prays for his servant and what changed when he prayed.

“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.”
2 Kings 6:17 NIV

Elisha prayed for the servant to not focus on the attack in front of them, but to clearly see the provision of God that was surrounding them.

In my life, I have found that I can look back at times and situations and see God with such clarity. Whether it was looking back on disappointments and hurts from others, the struggles of ministry, motherhood or marriage or even when I walked through the sudden deaths of my mom and dad - looking back at those situations I can see how the Lord was with me. I love looking back and clearly seeing God with me, but I think the even better option is to look for and find him DURING what I may be currently facing. I need my prayer to be, “Lord, open MY eyes, that I may see.” I don’t want to live only seeing His fingerprint on my past - I want to live seeing God’s Hand working....surrounding me, protecting me, fighting for me as I face whatever is in front of me. Because He is doing that.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your word that gives us wisdom for our lives and I believe that the wisdom we see in these verses today is to pray for our eyes to be opened. Father, I pray that whatever we face today, our problems and our issues will not be what we see, but I pray, by faith, that when we pray and open our eyes, we will see You working - turning all things for good. Thank You that we don’t have to live life fearfully saying, “oh no, what shall we do?”, but God we know You can open our eyes and our hearts to know we are not fighting alone. We don’t have to just look back and see You - we can look at today and see You and we can look at our tomorrows and know You are already there, too. Thank You for that, God.