2-7-2018

Good Morning All,

          2 Kings 6: 15-16; “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”  He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

    This passage is part of a larger story where the King of Syria wanted to trap and capture the Prophet Elisha.  The extended story is in 2 Kings 6: 8-23.  It is quite a story.  The servant of “the man of God” (Elisha) was looking around from the city they were staying in and saw it was surrounded by the Syrian army.  He knew of the army’s skill and its reputation and now he saw it completely surrounding his city.  He saw nothing but despair and hopelessness.  What he didn’t see was what God had placed around them.  In the next couple of verses, Elisha prays that the young man’s eyes would be open to see the Lord’s army.  The young man looked and he did see the great army of God with horse and chariots of fire.  Then the young man knew the truth about the might and the power of God.

    It is easy to be discouraged.  It is easy to look around and see the might of the enemy’s army.  We are a rural area and we see our churches getting older and smaller.  Oftentimes, we can count back all the Baptisms of the last 4-5 years because there is fewer than 5 or 6.  We see fewer families, smaller families and more distractions from attending church.  There are so many things to draw folks away from the church.  We hear the assaults on the church and it feels like we are always on the defense against a larger, stronger enemy.  It is easy to get discouraged.  When you are the only person under 40 years old in the LWML or the Men’s Club or yours is the only family in Sunday School, it is easy to be discouraged and feel like Elijah when he complained he was the only one left and they were trying to kill him.

    What God encourages us to do is to open our eyes.  Instead of looking at the enemy, look to the cross and look to the tomb.  Both are empty because Jesus has defeated them; Jesus defeated sin, death and the devil.  Then Jesus gives that victory to us, a victory that cannot be taken from us.  That is our army; the victorious Jesus who has all authority on heaven and earth, the victorious Jesus who sits at the right hand of God, who will return and every knee will bow is our army.  He joins us to himself and to all believers that we are never alone.  We stand with the army of all believers, the communion of saints, in victory.

    We don’t need to win this war; it is already won.  We are called to remain faithful, to live out our lives in service to Him and to proclaim the wonders of his gracious gospel message.  The Church will always prevail because it is Christ’s Church and His victory is ours.  So look up, open your eyes and see the victorious Lord surrounding us.

Gracious Lord, we are often wearied and downtrodden.  Open our eyes to your truth!  Keep us in your loving arms.  Strengthen our hearts, enliven our souls and keep us ever looking to you as our victorious, gracious King.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret