It may look 👀 like I’m surrounded…

God is never taken off guard or taken back, as we sometimes are. One thing is guaranteed, He never falls off of His throne. He never loses power. There’s no such thing as impossible.

^{2 Kings 6 15} And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶ So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who arewith us are more than those who are with them.”

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Elisha’s prayer didn’t have to be long and lengthy. He simply talked to God with such a great faith and belief in God, knowing that He was right there. He wanted his servant to know that too.

Here Elisha stood surrounded by the enemy army but he did not give into fear. That doesn’t mean he didn’t feel fear but he didn’t let it control or rule him. He faced it. He prayed. It was as automatic as the breath he breathed. Prayer and faith in God was his go to. He didn’t just call on God when in desperation. It was a way of life for him.

We may think we’ll never be Elisha, or Jesus for that matter. We won’t ever be Jesus but we have Jesus in our hearts if we have accepted Him. We have the very same God that Elisha called on. We have the VERY SAME SPIRIT that was operating in Jesus and the VERY SAME POWER That raised Jesus from the dead. We just gotta have the faith to call and believe.

Elisha already knew that God was powerful and had saw his hand move. The longer we walk with God, the more our faith should grow and trust is built. It’s faith to faith we go. We move from one degree of glory to another, or at least we should be. It’s not all automatic. You can begin where you are. Elisha didn’t condemn his servant for being scared when all he felt was fear and when all he saw looked like defeat. He simply prayed to God to open his servants eyes and God did. God didn’t condemn him either, nor does He us. We are His kids. Fear is a natural emotion and response to being scared. God didn’t give us the spirit of fear. That doesn’t mean that we won’t feel fear but if we’re being ruled by the wrong fear, it’s spirit of. God has given us all a measure of faith and in order for it to grow, we must use it in against the fear.

Elisha knew that he couldn’t do what only God could do, so he called on Him.

Remember when Jesus was on the boat and the men thought that He was asleep? He wasn’t. He never was and never is. He never will be. He’s not asleep on you. It was a test and it was a set up and to teach them a lesson. Maybe, just maybe, some of the things and battles that we face are all just a test. Or maybe a battle for the saving of another or many others. It’s always an opportunity for God to be God. We find when we trust and pray that HE IS The One and only solution to every one of our problems. He will show us the way. Even if He uses another path that doesn’t seem to be supernatural, all glory-credit- and honor is always due to Him. Nothing coincident with God. Don’t discredit Him and what He can do. He is The Maker of both heaven and earth, and all in it. Every good and perfect gift truly is from above, no matter how easy or complex It seems. We often forget even the sunrises and sunsets are miraculous and so are we.

Just as Elisha didn’t condemn but prayed, I pray you don’t fall under condemnation today for possibly fearing what you’re facing. Doubt does turn to unbelief and unbelief is sin, BUT faith isn’t the absence of fear. It’s just not letting it stand in the way.

Jesus said:

“WHY are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”

He sometimes sets us up to show us that we can trust in Him.

• Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4

He is our keeper.

• The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. Psalm 121:5

He watches over you even when you don’t see Him or feel it. He goes before us, long before you and I even see or know He goes… We to often forget that He spoke the ending of this all from the very beginning. So, whom or what shall we fear? He’s already there. He knows and isn’t shocked surprised or alarmed as we are. He is right by your side. Call that you might see! Sometimes we have to remind Him to remind us.

The enemy army came in the dark of night to surround Elisha. This is how the thief operates  and he ONLY COMES to steal kill and destroy, but God reveals every wicked deed, eventually... The enemy comes to take us off guard. Their king sent out horses, chariots and a great host of men to meet Elisha. He wasn’t scared. This verse always reminds me of the song “Surrounded” (Fight My Battles).

Looks can be deceiving and Elisha knew how to fight his battles - in faith and in prayer. They go hand in hand. Just like when the man in the scripture with the son who was terribly possessed. He said honestly to Jesus “Lord, I do believe, help Thou mine unbelief.” He was somewhere between faith and doubt and not ashamed to admit it but refused to be destroyed by doubt. He cried out.

This army was big no doubt and when Elisha’s servant arose and went out early, he saw that that. Elisha didn’t give a hint of fear. He went first straight to the WORD OF GOD, which some say the Bible tells us 365 times (one for everyday) “FEAR NOT”. He simply told his servant “Do Not be afraid.” In other words, do not give into the fears that you feel or that fear will get the best of you. After He spoke the words, he prayed! He went straight to the word. He straight went to faith. He didn’t give doubt, worry and reason time to get in. He spoke the word in faith and then assured his servant even before he prayed, that there was nothing to fear. He said that those who were with them, was more than those with the enemy. He was convinced. He had saw it time and time again. We gotta speak to our mountains, not about them. We gotta talk to ourselves out loud and remind ourselves that God is in control. We gotta speak words of life and faith in spite of what it looks like.

Elisha prayed a simple prayer and just asked God to please open his servants eyes that he may see, AND THE LORD DID open the servants eyes and he saw!!!! And behold, the mountain was FULL OF horses and chariots also as the opposing team, except they were horses and chariots OF FIRE surrounding them. Elisha’s prayer wasn’t long and complex but short and direct, and full of faith.

I believe that Elisha already believed before he saw. Faith is the substance of things that we hope for and the evidence of the things that we do not see (yet). Once we see it and hold it, we no longer have to have faith or believe for it, we possess it! That’s what we are praying for. It seemed that Elisha whole heartedly believed.

God came with fire. With passion. With power. When the Lord comes, He comes in a way that the enemy never could! He can come as a whirl wind and the clouds being the very dust of His feet. He can come quietly as a whisper in the wind or as a mighty rushing wind. He is God and He will show up and show out as He wills and wants to! That’s why we call on Him.

God allowed the 3 men in the book of Daniel to be thrown into the fire. He even allowed the furnace to be turned up even hotter BEFORE they got out. Turns out that He was also The One with them. The One that enemy saw as looking like the Son of God. The 4th man walking around loose In the fire! The 4th man in your situation. HE SIMPLY IS your solution, and your ever present help in troubled times. There is no thing too deep, too high or too wide. No thing too heated or too far gone for God to fix or intervene in. He also shut the very mouth of a lion for Daniel, BUT FIRST allowed him to be thrown in to prove to all that He was God. Daniel already knew this. That is why he stood his ground. Do you know just how powerful a lions jaw is? God is more! He can shut the mouths of your enemies.

Listen, you may already be in the fire, thinking that you are in too deep or over your head. It’s under His feet. You may think that sickness is too far gone, a loved one too far gone so it seems, and it seems that no one knows or maybe cares just how bad your situation is. But God knows. Sometimes we question why He hasn’t already moved and why He is allowing this, but He is moving all of the time. I’ve seen God do it. Once I went around thinking “this is too big and too far gone” but then I’d also walk around saying out loud “I don’t know when or how, but I KNOW WHO.” Boy, did He come through! I was like the mani do believe, help mine unbelief. I was fighting my fear and doubts with faith and words of declaration (not defeat!)

I know One Who can. 1 touch and 1 word can change everything ! Just 1 and in an instant, or overnight it seems. Again, just ONE! One touch of His hand and one Word of His mouth. First He speaks, then He performs. He’s done things I never thought possible and in a way that I never imagined. (Ephesians 3:20) Simpy, He is God and I am not. He shows up and shows out. When He does we realize it was all a set up for our good.

Just look at the story of Esther. It all seemed to be falling apart even up to the point of death, until it wasn’t! In a moment everything changed and turned around for her good. It didn’t happen overnight but then again it did. Suddenly’s do take time but God can change things in an instant. Once it hits, it all changes.

God allowed Paul and Silas to be imprisoned but once they begin to sing on one certain dark night, when it seemed nothing would change, God came down and shook those prison walls. He freed not only these men but saved the jailer and his whole family. The jailer was changed by what He saw but Paul was delivered by faith. The same Paul who once had a powerful encounter with God like the jailer did. Just as GOD CHANGED king Nebuchadnezzar’s mind about Who He was after the men in the fire situation, He can change anything or anyone. First, He allowed His own men go through the fire. It didn’t seem fair but He worked it out for their good and His glory.

He also struck the men against Elisha with blindness after Elisha prayed a simple prayer again. He prayed this time that these men’s eyes would be blinded (just the opposite of what he prayed for his servant) and the they were, just to open them back up to see they were actually the ones surrounded. Also, read Psalm 34 & 35.

He has done so many great things and just as Joseph story wasn’t fun and he suffered a long time and was treated VERY unfairly, it turned out for his ultimate good and his ending was so much better than his beginning. God had already shown him and he had that to hold onto. He held onto his faith and did not let go.

God did exactly what He said He would do in the end. It’s all about due time (Isaiah 60:22) and at the very right and appointed time (not before or after), HE THE LORD made it happen. Joseph didn’t. Gd did. Joseph remained faithful until the end and didn’t give In before then. That was his part. It wasn’t just for Joseph, but for the saving of many. God did it! He was just a part in the story and a willing vessel who didn’t fold or bend in the wrong direction. He stayed holding onto God and the vision and faith when it seemed to all be useless and falling apart at the seams. If God said it, IT WILL come to pass. No matter what it seems. We are told the vision speaks of the end. We need it to hold onto in the middle.

Our words and prayers are both vital and powerful. We must pray but it is also equally as important to speak to our mountains for our voice holds authority. Life and death in the POWER OF the tongue. We must put into practice what we know, for knowing is not enough alone.

I just came to remind you this morning that no matter what you face or what it looks like, God is there. It may not feel like it and you may not see it but I pray that He opens your eyes to see. God is in your story and there is nothing that He cannot do. No such thing.

One last story that I want to remind you of. It’s a faith vs. fear story, for that’s what it’s all about. It’s whether we use the faith and the weapons that we’ve been given, or we don’t. A tool is useless without its user. Ephesians 6 tells us that there is in fact a war but also what out weapons are, and that we must in fact put them on every single day. No doubt! The story I’m referring to found it in 2 Chronicles 20. It’s more than a story. It’s truth and applies to me and you. Jehoshaphat was afraid (God doesn’t condemn us for being afraid or feeling fear.) The word tells and shows us that he was in fact afraid, but it also said that he set himself to seek the Lord. He spoke out loud to God in faith. He knew that the power and the matter was in God’s hand and declared that there was no one who was able to stand against Him. That very same power is available to me and you.

Jehoshaphat knew that he was surrounded, but he also knew that he was surrounded by God. They called out to God in their distress, knowing that He would hear and save them and that they couldn’t save themselves. Again, we can do the same. Elisha couldn’t save his servant or open his eyes, but he knew the God Who could and he called on Him.

God delivered these men and has delivered time and time again. He is still God and never changes. Never will. So no matter what is surrounding you or how scare it looks, know that God is with you and He is in control.

^{2 Chronicles 20}

¹³ Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat!

——->>>>>Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.<————

We can and must know this, and thus make a stand!

Stand still and witness His salvation. Some of these men stood up and praised the Lord with a very loud voice and others fell down and worshiped Him. Before the victory and as they begin to march into battle, they began to sing and praise the Lord, and THEN The Lord set ambushes against the enemy. They didn’t fight the way we imagine a fight would go. They sang as they went out to battle and your melody is your weapon.

So know that no matter what you are facing or surrounded by today, He’s so much bigger and more than able. Looks can be deceiving.

We fight our battles on our knees, we win with a simple but powerful melody!

And as they began to sing and praise…..🎶 🎤 (2 Chronicles 20:22). He gets the final say