A couple of weeks
ago I went home from the office angry and depressed. I could only see the
immediate needs, the big problems, the financial challenges, blah, blah… When I get in that state, it’s not a pretty
sight! “Poor me, why is life so hard?” becomes my song. The unfortunate people who get in my path on
those days don’t experience a man of faith, to be sure. What’s the solution? Read on.
The Bible tells a
great story about a preacher named Elisha.
Syria had been sending raiding parties into Israel, causing great
suffering. He prayed and the Spirit of the Lord started showing him when and
where the enemy would show up next. He passed that information along to the
king of Israel, who would position soldiers to meet the raiders. After several
encounters, the Syrian king thought his court had a spy. He did an
investigation and found none of his officers traitors. Somebody, however, told him about Elisha. “It’s not us, my lord,” one of the officers
replied. “Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the
words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!” (2 Kings 6:12, NLT) He sent a special unit to Dothan, to arrest
the preacher.
Elisha’s servant
got up one morning and went out to find a serious development: "Surprise! Horses and chariots
surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?”
He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.”
Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.” The eyes of the
young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of
horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!" (2 Kings 6:15-17, The
Message) With death apparently imminent
that young man was in despair, a lot like me when I let circumstances overwhelm
me. Now, note Elisha’s prayer. He did
not pray for relief. He prayed for a change in perspective. “God, open his eyes.”
Christian are you
begging the Lord for what He’s already provided?
Are you pounding
on Heaven’s door, blinded by your desperation to what is already available to
you?
Our greater need
is not relief, but renewed vision. Instead
of asking God, ‘why;’ instead of pleading for answers, I find that retreating
to His presence in worship, renewing my mind and my heart with the Word, and remembering
His faithfulness opens my eyes. If you’re
overwhelmed, full of complaint, angry, and faithless; just stop. Take a lesson from Elisha who
prayed for new vision for his servant, so that the young man could see the
armies of God that were already in
place. In Psalm 73, the singer says
that when life had overwhelmed him, he was dangerously close to abandoning
God. "When I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache …
Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture."
(Psalm 73:16-17, The Message)
One last thought,
please. This is not an appeal for denial or disengagement. Some Christian confuse faith with
pretense. They will not let themselves
see the suffering, the sinfulness, or the selfishness that goes on around them. They try to sing happy songs, say positive
things, and quote Scripture to block reality.
This is not the answer. We do not live above reality! We bring God’s
presence to the pain. We walk through the
valley with Him. Take this word from the Word. It comes from
the writing of Habakkuk who saw the terrible judgment that would befall his
beloved nation, but he did not give up on God. "I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for
the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does
not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and
the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle
in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my
Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a
deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (Habakkuk 3:16-19, NIV)
_______________
He Hideth My Soul
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me.
He hideth my soul
In the cleft of the rock
Where rivers of pleasure I see.
He hideth my soul
In the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry thirsty land.
He hideth my life
In the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand!
Fanny Jane Crosby
| William James Kirkpatrick
Public Domain
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