Open His Eyes!
2 Kings 6:15-17 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.
Worry Warts!
I confess, I am a worry wart. The older I get the more anxious I am about things that I cannot control. Instead of being glad for all the times the Lord has kept me from difficulty and heartache, I keep thinking that today may be the day that a disaster will strike over which I have no control. Then what am I going to do?
Obviously, self-reliance is a good thing so long as it doesn’t leave God out of the equation. But I am not a good plumber and we have had a lot of plumbing problems in our house—mostly because of shoddy workmanship on the part of the builder and installer. When the wind turns to the northwest and begins howling at 30 mph and the temperature drops to 20 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), I keep wondering what I am going to do if the heat tape fails (because it has) or if the furnace fails (because it has). I have found very few people that are willing to work on manufactured homes when emergencies arise and those that do know how to charge. I keep thinking that if I was proficient like I should be, I should be able to handle these emergencies myself. But I can’t, so I keep wondering, “What am I going to do?”
It is easy for those of you who don’t worry about anything to say, "Just trust in the Lord." But for those of us who have anxiety problems that just adds to the problems. Now we not only have problems we can’t “fix”, we are anxious because of our apparent lack of faith in the Lord’s goodness and provision. It is encouraging to know, however, that even Paul seemed to have some problems with fear and anxiety. He says in 1 Corinthians 2:3. "I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling." He often talks about his weakness.
The Blessing of the Lord’s Faithfulness
One thing I have learned over the years is that even though I may be faithless, the Lord is still faithful. Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” God has answered prayers before I have asked and has met needs that I didn’t even know existed. Why should a person worry when as Christians we have the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us, we have angels surrounding us (Hebrews 1:14, Psalms 34:7), and we have the word of God to reassure us and instruct us?
Sometimes we need to have our eyes opened just like Elisha’s servant did. Things looked pretty bad. The city was surrounded by the Syrian army, but Elisha had no army. He had no horses or chariots. OR DID HE? He told his servant, "We are not going to have to do anything, open your eyes and see our army. It is greater and more powerful than theirs." I realize that we don’t often see the forces that are working on our behalf today, but they are just as real. Sometimes, we are kept from problems and sometimes we are guided through problems. We had a car accident that could have killed us a few years back because of black ice. But in three hours we were in a rental car continuing our trip to the Denver area. I had no idea that I had a heart blockage 8 years ago. But Medicare provided me some preventative care and a sharp doctor recognized a problem on an EKG. I had a stent put in for a 90 percent blockage in the widow maker. I was preserved through a problem. I could go on and on about the times when something could have happened but didn’t. And so far, I have never had a plumbing or furnace problem that my worrying fixed and yet somehow all of them have some how gotten fixed. I can truthfully say, “If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?” And God is for those of us who have trusted His Son.
My Prayer
Lord, I realize that there is a difference between being prudent about things for which we are responsible, and worrying about things that we cannot control. Help those of us who trust you to know the difference so that we can enjoy that peace and rest that is promised to us in your word. Help us to remember that, "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3)."
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of March 12, 2017