Lord, Take the Blindfold Off

In the sixth chapter of 2 Kings, the King of Aram wanted to go to war with Israel, so he made plans to attack. He revealed his plans to only his servants, but before the plan could be activated, Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel not to go to the area set for the attack. The King of Aram called all his servants together and demanded to know which of them was the traitor revealing his plans to Israel. One of his officers replied. “Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!” The King of Aram learned Elisha was located in the city of Dothan and sent a great army of troops, horses, and chariots to surround the city and capture him.  When Elisha's servant went outside that morning, he became terrified at the sight of the enemy forces and cried to Elisha, “Oh, sir, what will we do now?”

Now here in the chosen text (2 Kings 6:16-23), Elisha, through prayer to an omnipresent and omniscient God, was able to reveal to his servant the divine resources that were available to them in their time of trouble. From this text we are encouraged to ask the LORD to:

Help change our perception. (Verse 16)

“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!”

With his physical sight, Elisha's servant saw a great threat: the enemy had an army of horses, chariots, and troops that were surrounding them. He became blinded by fear from what he saw. Elisha offered words of assurance: “Don’t be afraid, for there are more on our side than on theirs.” Elisha's servant was blinded by a bad situation, but Elisha saw victory.  The enemy was late to the battle! Before the enemy showed up that the Lord was already present. It may look bad, but God can make it better. It may look not together but God can bring it together. 

Help confirm our prayers. (verses 17-20)

“Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. As the Aramean army advanced toward him, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please make them blind.” So the Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. Then Elisha went out and told them, “You have come the wrong way! This isn’t the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to the city of Samaria. As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, now open their eyes and let them see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they discovered that they were in the middle of Samaria.

The key word is PRAYER. Elijah's first prayer was for the Lord to open his servant's eyes and let him see. In other words, "Lord let him see what I see. I can’t open his eyes, Lord you got to do this, so, take his blindfold off." The servant got a better look at the heavenly help that was on his side because Elisha answered prayer, a prayer that came with confirmation from God. Elisha's second prayer was for God to blind their enemy, another prayer that confirmed God was on their side and working on their behalf. Elisha's third prayer was to open the eyes of their enemy so that they see they were captured, a prayer that confirmed that God's people are protected even when the odds seem insurmountable. You may go into your prayer closet saying, "Oh, God, what a big problem I have!” But after having a conversation with God, you'll come out saying "Oh, problem, what a big God I have!"

Help correct our perspective. (verse 21-23)

“When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?” “Of course not!” Elisha replied. “Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.” So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their master. After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.”

Perception is our natural ability to see or what you see, but perspective is mainly how we interpret what we see. Prayer help change the perspective of Elisha's servant. Before prayer, he was frightened. Before prayer he was outnumbered and was doubtful. Before prayer, he was confused but after prayer he saw that with God they were going to be alright. His perspective was corrected. When the King of Israel saw that the enemy was right where he wanted them, he was excited and asked Elisha if he should kill them. Elisha told the King not to kill his enemy but to instead feed them and then send them home. This battle was not for the King of Israel's glory but for God's glory. And not only was the servant and the King of Israel's perspectives corrected, but even the King of Aram's perspective was corrected as well. The Bible says that after the encounter the Aramean raiders had with the people of Israel, they stayed away from the land of Israel.

Saints, we have an enemy that tries to blindfold us and his name is Satan. He has multiple tricks he uses to intercept the light of heavenly truths from reaching hearts and minds. That’s why we need the Lord to help us identify and then remove our blindfolds so that we can depend on faith instead of falling victim to our fears and feelings. 

Saved to Serve,

Pastor Keith