Clear Eyes. Calm Heart.

Clear eyes also empower Christian attitudes and actions. Look at how that was true for Elisha. When the Aramaeans started to advance because they apparently didn’t see the angel army, Elisha didn’t run and hide; he went out to meet the Aramaeans! Elisha knew he could be so bold because he had an angel army at his back. As Elisha strode forward he asked God to blind the soldiers which he did. Elisha then led them to the capital city Samaria where the Israelite king could have easily slaughtered them. Instead, Elisha instructed the king to feed the enemy and to send them home.

The point that strikes me here is this: even though God has promised that his angels will look after us, he hasn’t said that his angels will do our work for us. They don’t invite your neighbor to a Bible study. They don’t drop money into the offering plate. They don’t teach Sunday School. They don’t work out the plans and financing for a new church building. You and I are to do these things. But we can do them well because God is with us and is empowering us, and his angel army has our back.

Still, we can expect roadblocks along the way that are anything but welcome. I doubt very much that facing a hostile army was on Elisha’s to-do list for that particular day. It certainly wasn’t on his servant’s list. But look at what God was up to. He could have had his angels disperse the enemy long before they came in sight of Dothan, but then Elisha’s servant would have missed the opportunity to see that there was an angel army and not just a guardian angel or two looking after him. Think what an impression that experience made on the servant. When he had to face major obstacles again he would do so certain that he didn’t face them alone.

God still lets us get up close and personal with Aramaean armies so that his care and protection is obvious. Cancer doesn’t just strike the families of unbelievers. Car accidents don’t just maim drunk drivers. Job losses aren’t just lamented by atheists. God’s people too often have to face these challenges. But we never face them alone. God sends his angels to keep the evil in check even if we do have to suffer from it. But why should we have to suffer at all? Well, why do parents let their children fall when they’re learning how to walk? Why not just hold the child’s hand wherever they go so they never stumble? Because Mom and Dad know that if they do this, the child will not learn as quickly how to walk. And walking is a lot more efficient than crawling. Likewise God lets us suffer the bumps and bruises of life because he wants us to have a faith that does more than crawl. He wants us to have a faith that confidently walks in the light of his promises because we have seen firsthand that those promises are trustworthy.

Of course there are those who don’t want us to have such a faith. The Apostle Paul once wrote: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Just as the angels that surrounded Dothan were real, so are the demons that surround us intent on getting us to fall from faith. We should pray that God help us seem them clearly too so that, just as soldiers do all they can to avoid hidden roadside bombs, we will do all we can to avoid their temptations.