Fear Not!

One of my favorite Old Testament prophets is Elisha. The name Elisha means “God shall save,” and Elisha’s entire life exemplifies how God will save us. One of my favorite stories is when Elisha confronts the Syrian army. The Syrians are fighting against Israel and Elisha sends a message to the king of Israel telling him where the Syrians will be and how to outsmart them. Baffled by how Israel knows what he is going to do, the king of Syria calls his men together and asks who the traitor is that is telling Israel his plans. One Syrian soldier speaks up and tells the king that no one is betraying him. Instead a prophet in Israel, Elisha, knows the secrets of the king’s heart and tells Israel what he is going to do. Outraged, the king of Syria takes his armies, horses, and chariots by night and surrounds the city of Dothan where Elisha is staying.

The next morning Elisha’s servant awakes and finds the city surrounded by the armies of Syria. Filled with panic he asks Elisha, “What shall we do?”

Calmly Elisha comforts him, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:16).

You can imagine what the servant thought. Hundreds of troops around the entire city and Elisa says not to fear that the two of them are more than this army! But Elisha prays and asks the Lord to open the eyes of the servant, and suddenly the servant sees that the entire mountain is covered with horses and chariots of fire ready to defend the prophet.

Like Elisha and his servant, we are never alone if we are following the path of righteousness. Even though we can’t see them, chariots of fire are there whenever we need them. Angels attend us daily. We just need to learn to trust that they are there.