God’s Got It Covered

The passage of scripture surrounding this verse, details the story of one of Israel’s many battles with her enemies – this time with Syria.

The king of Syria was plotting and planning his strategy to attack Israel, but became frustrated and troubled when he found his plans were thwarted time and time again. He couldn’t understand that when he met with his servants in top secret, behind closed doors, his battle plans were systematically being leaked to Israel.

In those days, the king and people of Israel relied on the prophet to hear from God, who would then tell them what to do

In our generation, the world relies on satellite information and ‘intelligence’ given to the security forces to try to keep their countries and people safe from those who would inflict harm on them.

However, in the passage surrounding today’s scripture, the enemy is distressed and worried at this constant breach of his highly confidential war strategy, so he set out to try and find out who was betraying him. From our point of view, this is exactly as it should be. The enemy of our souls should be the one who is distressed, in fear and worried … and not trying to put us, God’s people, into fear and anxiety.

So eventually, when one of the servants of the Syrian king reported back that Elisha was the culprit, he immediately put plans into place to ‘get Elisha’, and surrounded the city.
It was clear that Elisha’s servant did not have the kind of relationship with God that Elisha did, for when he got up and went out he was greeted with the sight of the enemy surrounding the city, and immediately panicked. However, Elisha, who was in touch with the Lord, immediately calmed his fears with the words “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them”, and he prayed for the servant’s eyes to be opened. This revelation was a clear learning curve for Elisha’s servant when he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. Such a sight would shake anyone to the core and one can never be the same again after that.

The end of the story reveals that God smote the enemy with blindness and delivered them into the king of Israel’s power. On Elisha’s advice, the enemy was treated with kindness and sent home, and we are informed that the bands of Syria no longer came into the land of Israel. What a wonderful outcome to a very threatening situation!

So, as God’s reconnaissance information is far better than ours could ever be, let’s commit our way into Heavenly Father’s hands and be obedient to His instructions. This way we will remain in a place of peace and rest. Remember, whatever appears to be coming against you – has to get past God first. Nothing takes God by surprise. And there are far more on our side than on the enemy’s. So, don’t worry - God’s got it covered.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You are aware of every detail of our lives and have promised that no weapon formed against us will prosper. Thank You too for Your precious hand of protection upon us. Help us to abide under the shadow of Your wings in obedience to Your instructions and to keep our ears open to Your every whisper. In Jesus’ name. Amen.