Open My Eyes

In Second Kings chapter 6, the servant of Elisha woke in fear when he saw a vast army surrounding the city. To human eyes, defeat seemed certain. But Elisha was calm. He prayed a simple prayer: “Lord, open his eyes that he may see.” Suddenly the servant saw what had been there all along — the mountains filled with horses and chariots of fire surrounding them.

How often life feels the same for us. We see bills, loneliness, grief, uncertainty, or opposition closing in around us. Fear becomes louder than faith. Yet God’s presence is never absent simply because it is unseen. Heaven’s resources are greater than earth’s threats. Sometimes the greatest miracle is not that our circumstances immediately change, but that God opens our eyes to recognize He has already surrounded us with His protection, strength, and peace.

When fear rises today, remember: the servant first saw the enemy, but God allowed him to finally see the greater reality. We may feel outnumbered, but we are never abandoned.

“Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” -2 Kings 6:16

David vs. Goliath

Springtime is my favorite time of the year for being a sports fan and getting to watch jr. high and high school state basketball tournaments, NCAA college March Madness, and the opening of major league baseball season. We see battles of small teams taking on bigger teams and underdogs taking on higher ranked teams. What does it take to be successful? We are taught it takes hard work, determination, studying your game and opponent, and a willingness to be coachable and listen.

Here are 6 Bible character that did some amazing things and faced what seemed to be unbeatable odds for success. They all had the same common denominator in feeling they were not qualified or important enough to do what God called them to do.

Moses delivered the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, and he felt unqualified because he stuttered and didn’t speak well.
Gideon’s family was poor and he was the least of his family, but he saved Israel from the Midianites. The Lord said, “I will be with you.”
Saul, first king of Israel, hid from doing what God wanted him to by being busy with menial things. He avoided doing the task God had given him because he felt he couldn’t do it.
Esther when asked by Mordecai to intercede before the king, to not let Haman slaughter the Jewish people, was hesitant because anyone that approached the king without invitation could be killed. She, in her role as queen, pushed past her fear and trusted God.
Paul persecuted and killed Christians before he met Jesus Christ. Paul felt unworthy to give his life to God and do the work God had for him. However, he said yes and worked tirelessly for the One who changed his life.
Mary, just a young girl, was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. She didn’t fully understand why, but she said yes with the Holy Spirit guiding her.

All of us have felt inferior doing certain jobs and were an underdog at some point in life. Maybe we weren’t raised in a church, felt insignificant to others, too busy, afraid of repercussions, afraid of failure, embarrassed, unworthy, afraid of the cost of submitting to God, or the task seemed outlandish. What could seem more outlandish than God having a boy named David defend His people against a mighty, nine-foot-tall warrior named Goliath? Now that’s an underdog. As a coach, I used this scenario quite often. Even if we don’t win, they are going to know they were in a fight and not to give up. All things are possible through Christ our Lord.

The main qualification for each of these people is simple…it was just saying yes to the Lord. That is the qualification that God is looking for. If we submit to God’s’ calling, He will make sure we are qualified by being with us every step of the way. Even if it doesn’t seem to be an earth-shattering job, we don’t know the long-term effect of doing something for God. God can take something little and make it into something great because He is God.

It took me years to finally understand and say yes to stepping outside the box and into something uncomfortable that God called me to do. It works and God can do some amazing things in people’s lives in we just say yes. You will be forever thankful if you say yes. Just trust and obey.

Knowing the Word

Satan deals in subtleties. An outright lie is not easily believed, but a half-truth could be. What is a child of God to do? 2 John 10-11 says the following:

“If any person comes to you with a teaching that does not align with the true message of Jesus, do not welcome that person into your house or greet him as you would a true brother. Anyone who welcomes this person has become a partner in advancing his wicked agenda.”

As we partner with the Holy Spirit to develop a resilient faith, Satan will do all he can to derail those efforts.  He wants to bring discouragement, so you walk away from the Lord.  He wants to bring disappointment to make you feel unsatisfied in your faith journey.  He wants to bring confusion and chaos by being exposed to false teachings.  All of that comes in the form of half-truths.

How many times have we doubted because something seemed pretty close to the truth? How many times have we allowed Satan to steal our peace, our joy, or our faith by believing a half-truth?  How many times have we stayed “stuck” in our current situation because of Satan’s half-truths?

Half-truths equal false teachings. That’s why it is so important to know the real truths and promises in God’s Word. Unless we have a solid understanding of Scripture, we won’t even know when our faith is being attacked by subtle inconsistencies.  Little by little, misinformation and blatant untruths will chip away at our heart until our resilient faith is wounded. That is just what Satan wants. A wounded faith has a hard time doing God’s will. So, we must saturate our mind, heart, soul, and spirit in the Word, the only real truth. We must protect and guard our faith because it is a very precious thing.

Pressing On

We all have past, a place where we were before we knew Jesus. We may have memories that make us cringe in shame and regret, but that's not where God wants our focus to be. Because if we are so busy looking back at the past, then there is a good chance we will lose our balance and stumble on the path before us.

Paul when he was still called Saul persecuted Christians, then Jesus showed him the light on the road to Damascus. After that he became an apostle and brought the Word to the gentile nations. In the Old Testament, Rahab was a prostitute, but after finding God she turned her life around and became an ancestor of Jesus. Moses and David were both murderers, and David was an adulterer too. Yet if any of these people had kept their focus on the past and their personal history, they never would have seen themselves as the people God already saw: His children who, with His strength and help, would further His kingdom. Paul states it best in Philippians 3 verses 13 and 14,

But I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us.

We are all just works in progress. Not the finished person, but definitely not the lumpy mess we started out as. Forget the past and press on to the place that Jesus is calling you.