2 Kings 6 – 15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
While the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would speak with his military officers, planning where their forces would be stationed. But little did they know that God was telling Elisha of the Arameans’ strategies, and Elisha was relaying those strategies to the king of Israel. The Israelites would then adjust accordingly. This happened multiple times, causing the king of Aram to believe there was a traitor in his ranks. One of the Aramean officers tells the king that there is no traitor, but it’s Elisha who is reporting their plans to the king of Israel. Tired of repeatedly being made a fool of, the king of Aram commanded that Elisha be found, and it was reported that Elisha was in Dothan. The Aramean king sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.
How shaken up does someone have to be to send an entire army after one man?
In our text, Elisha’s servant wakes up the next morning to see that great army sent by the king of Aram has the city surrounded. It is then that Elisha first encourages him that there are more for them then there are against them, and then Elisha prays for his servant’s eyes to be opened. After this prayer, Elisha’s servant saw the Aramean army surrounded by an even greater army with horses and chariots of fire. Elisha then prayed for the Aramens to be blinded, which allowed Elisha to lead them away from Dothan into Samaria, and once their eyes were opened, Elisha advised the king of Israel to feed them and let them go home. After this, Aram left Israel alone.
When Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened, his servant might’ve thought to himself, “I just warned you about the death army here to do who-knows-what to us. My eyes had to be open to see them. So, not sure what the prayer is all about, but ok.” But it was more than just the Aramean army that Elisha’s servant saw. He saw hopelessness. He saw defeat. He saw a death sentence. Before he even prayed for his servant, Elisha saw hope. He saw victory. He saw safety. He saw the faithfulness of God. What Elisha saw is what he got. His prayer was not for the armies of God, but for his servant to see what he already saw. His prayer was for his servant to see the same hope, victory, and safety that he saw.
In Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to bring Isaac before him as a burnt offering. The reasonable reaction would be to see nothing but loss, devastation, and grief. But Abraham’s focus was not on what he could see in the natural. When they arrived at Mt. Moriah, Abraham told the others who accompanied them on the trip to stay behind while Abraham and Isaac while they went up to worship. When Isaac questioned where the sacrifice was, Abraham said that God would provide a sacrifice, and as Abraham was lowering the knife, the angel of the Lord stayed his hand, and when Abraham looked up, a ram was caught in the brush. The Lord had provided.
Hebrews 11 – 17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”[c]19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
If Abraham had only seen loss, he would have lost. He may have disobeyed the Lord and who knows what the consequence would’ve been. But he saw through the lens of faith. And so he was rewarded.
2020 will now and forever be a part of our lexicon. It will bring to mind Covid-19 and all that came along with it, a government at each other’s throats, everyone else at each other’s throats, wildfires, social justice, “that” election…this year was arguably the most tumultuous, uncertain year in my lifetime, and maybe in many of yours. The events of 2020 have inspired what is probably the largest number of memes I can ever remember covering the same topic(s), trying to make light of all that has taken place. People look at this year, and all they see is dread, sadness, anger, and fear. I’m not going to downplay or ignore the truly awful things that have happened in 2020. But I’m also not going to dwell on and allow those things to pull my focus away from what God is doing in the here and now, and what He’s setting up for the future!
Back in January, Annabella and four of her friends went to a youth service, and all of her friends received the gift of the Holy Ghost at that service. In the weeks that followed, more of her friends AND their parents received the Holy Ghost. Shelter-in-place took us out of our comfort zone as a church and prepared us for the future of more frequent church in homes. It also led us to upgrade our online capabilities and presentation. More people are watching our services online than ever before. Once we resumed meeting at church, it wasn’t long before God continued to give the increase, especially within Generate Student Ministries. One was baptized at the end of August, and 10 more were baptized in early September. More and more young people started showing up on Friday nights. Our friend Christian came to Generate several weeks ago to lead a workout for the youth, and after the bible study that followed the workout, He received the Holy Ghost. Fia has friends who have become regulars at Generate. Isabella is bringing people pretty much every week. Word spread about the moves of God that were happening in our youth worship services, and an entire other youth group showed up a few weeks ago! Some of the students are (or at least were) going to school early to pray. Annabella started a P7 Club to teach Bible studies to her friends at school. We might be as a church teaching more people Bible studies this year alone than 2009-2019 combined. If not, it’s still easily a one-year record for TLC. Bro John is not just serving our country with nothing short of excellence, but the same can be said about his service to the kingdom of God. As he testified a few weeks ago, he had a crowd of 600 at a service on base. Today, I pray over this congregation the same prayer Elisha prayed over his servant – OPEN OUR EYES, THAT WE MAY SEE!
If all we choose to see is negative (and yes, it is a choice), then we foster a spirit of negativity. If all we choose to dwell on is everything that’s gone wrong (and yes, it is a choice), then we’ll dwell in sadness and self-pity. Your input will determine your output. What we watch, what we read, what we listen to, who we spend time with—those things affect our attitudes, our thoughts, and subsequently, our actions. What we see is what we get.
But what if we chose to not focus so much on the hurt, but instead focused on the healer? What if we decided to trust not in the talking heads, but instead trusted in the Godhead? What if we sat not in the seat of the scornful, but instead sat at the feet of Jesus? What if we likened 2020 to the Israelites at the Red Sea; “From all I can see, we’re trapped by the sea in front of us, mountains on either side, and our enemy closing in on us. This looks impossibly bad.” But Moses saw something that no one else saw. Moses told the people to fear not, stand still, and SEE the salvation of the Lord which he will show to you today. The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace!
What if 2020 has not been a year of hopelessness and defeat, but a year in which God is revealing himself to the church and to the world in ways we could have never imagined, and in turn, God is revealing the things of this world to the church in ways we could have never imagined? What if 2020 has been a year in which God gave the increase, exceeding, abundantly, above all we could ask or think?
Is hopelessness and defeat all you see? Then you’ll live hopeless and defeated. Can you look past the natural and see that God is at work? Then you’ll live victorious! What you see is what you get!
CLOSE
2Kings 6 – 13 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
There’s only one other mention of Dothan in the bible, and it’s in Genesis 37:17 where Joseph finds his brothers when Israel sends him to check in on them. This is also where his brothers first conspired to kill him, but then the voices of reason decide instead to first throw him into a pit, and then to sell him off to the Midianites who then sold him again in Egypt.
I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure what it was that sustained Joseph through his brother’s betrayal, the false accusations and false imprisonment, and being forgotten in prison for two more years beyond when he could’ve been freed, but what if God opened his eyes in Dothan? He saw betrayal in the natural, but what if God opened his eyes to a glimpse of what God would restore him to when it was all said and done? If nothing else, hindsight is 20/20, and when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he assured them that what they meant for evil in Dothan, God used it for good. And over 1000 years later, God once again gets the glory in Dothan as He opens the eyes of Elisha and his servant to a glimpse of their victory once it was all said and done.
God, open our eyes that we may see!
More Questions for Personal or Group Study:
- What really spoke to you in this sermon?
- Do you have a tendency to think positively or negatively? In light of this sermon, what do you need to change?
- Read Phil 4:8-9. Are your thoughts in line with these verses? What needs to change?
- How can you encourage someone else with what you’ve learned from this sermon?
Excerpted from a sermon preached by Pastor Michael Lagle.
If you are looking for an Apostolic Pentecostal church and are in the Chicagoland area, come check out The Life Church located at 3030 Central Road in Glenview, IL. Services are Sundays at 1pm and Wednesdays at 7pm. We would love to see you there!
The Life Church 
Reblogged this on Christina Li Books.