Lord, open our eyes

There is a great story found in 2 Kings chapter 6. It is the story of Elisha the prophet and his servant. Elisha was warning the king of Israel that the king of Aram was going to attack. When the king of Aram heard about this he sent horses, chariots and a strong army to surround the city where Elisha was. When Elisha's servant got up the next morning and saw the huge army he was afraid. Elisha said, "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then in verse 17 Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." God opened the servant's eyes and he was able to see the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Hannah Whitehall Smith has this to say this about the passage: "This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and one another: "Lord, open our eyes so we may see." We are surrounded just as the prophet Elisha was, by God's "horses and chariots of fire", waiting to transport us to places of glorious victory. Once our eyes are opened by God, we will see all the events of our lives, whether great or small, joyful or sad, as a "chariot" for our souls. Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such. On the other hand, even the smallest trial may become an object crushing everything in its path into misery and despair if we allow it. The difference then becomes a choice we make. It all depends not on the events themselves but on how we view them. If we simply lie down, allowing them to roll over and crush us, they become an uncontrollable car of destruction. Yet if we climb into them, as riding in a car of victory, they become the chariots of God to triumphantly take us onward and upward."

I had an emotionally crushing event happen to me this week that I am still trying to process. I have cried and cried and then cried out to God for comfort. I have felt all the emotions including anger, hurt, bitterness, and intense pain. I have felt as if my spirit was literally being crushed. I have been on my knees asking God to help me to respond in a Christ like manner. Have you ever experienced anything like that? Has there been a time in your life when something unjust happened to you? Has there been a time when you felt crushed in your spirit?

This passage of scripture is helping me to make the right choice. I can either let this become an "uncontrollable car of destruction" or I can climb into it and ride it as a chariot of God to take me onward and upward. It is a hard choice that my flesh fights. I know what God is requiring of me but sometimes it seems as if His path is too difficult even though it's right. Being stretched and challenged is painful, but necessary. So once again as I have every day these past 7 months, I fall on my knees before God and say, "Not my will, but Thy will be done. Help me to trust you. Take all my pain and replace it with your hope and peace. Use this for your glory." My prayer for all of us is that God will open our eyes so that we, like Elisha's servant, can see the horses and chariots of fire that God is surrounding us with waiting to transport us to places of glorious victory. I think I will step in and take a ride. Do you want to come?