Chariots of Fire

In II Kings 6, Elisha and his servant wake up  to the realization that in the night they were surrounded by Syrian horses, chariots and a great host.  (I have woken with similar feelings 🙂 This is quite bleak; not a great way to start your day.  I honestly identify with Elisha’s servant.  He sees this massive army surrounding them and He says to Elisha, “What are we going to do?” he doesn’t offer any grand ideas or options.  I picture him frozen in a state of shock.  Elisha says “Fear not” because he has a different set of eyes.  He obviously sees the army surrounding them, but he also sees something else-Gods own army of horses, and soldiers, but to top it off…chariots of fire.  Ok, so here is where I get tunnel vision.  I see that chariots of fire beat plain ol’ chariots any day, right? Especially if they are from heaven.  It’s not even a contest.  I envision flaming swords and a scene similar to an action-packed movie ending in victory.  Elisha prays for his servant to be able to see…and he did.  I imagine the servant was so relieved.  But then…when the bad guys were coming toward them, Elisha prayed that they would become…blind? What??? Where are the chariots of fire??? This is not what I expected from the dramatic power scene in my mind and I guess that is my point.  I saw only two options:  1.  Elisha and his servant killed by the massive army  2.  chariots of fire kill off the bad guys.  I never saw another option.

The whole story seems to have a “vision” theme.  After Elisha prays, the servant sees chariots of fire, then Elisha prays and the bad army loses their vision…I wonder if there were any chariots of fire that were supposed to kill off the army after all?  Could it be that God gave Elisha and his servant a vision of  His might to give them hope, courage and stamina?  The chariots of fire aren’t mentioned again.

Elisha actually has compassion on this blind army.  After he prays for their sight to return, he tells the king to feed them and then lets them go back home.  Wow.  What a turn of events.  No one dies and the chariots, horses and army never fight.  I guess I’m just thinking again how limited I am.  God isn’t limited by choice A or B.  This is good news for me.  I want vision like Elisha…eyes that see Gods strength in every situation; not a mind to calculate my options (A or B). If I am focused only on me and my calculating abilities, I only have fear as my friend and he stabs me in the back every time.

Whether or not the chariots were a vision or reality, they were Gods way of proving Himself strong.  When we seek Him, we will find Him.  Let’s look for chariots today 🙂