Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast. And today I'm in day four in a series as we talk through spiritual warfare. There's a scene in Second Kings, chapter six. Now, this is found in the Old Testament. Israel is surrounded. An entire army comes looking for one man. Now, think about this. An entire army has come looking for one guy, and. And they're looking for a dude by the name of Elisha. His servant wakes up, looks out, sees horses, chariots, soldiers, everywhere.
[00:00:36] It's the kind of panic that hits you right in the gut. I mean, right in the solar plexus. Fear that makes the world shrink.
[00:00:43] What are we going to do now? He says.
[00:00:46] And spiritual warfare sometimes feels like this.
[00:00:51] Circumstances are closing in, options are running out, and it looks like defeat is just a matter of time. But Elisha doesn't panic. He says, don't be afraid, for there are more on our side than on theirs. Which, you think about, it sounds a little crazy. There's two of them and a whole army coming down the hill. It's like, bro, I know you're not good at math, but that's a whole nother level.
[00:01:17] Then Elisha prays, O Lord, open his eyes and let him see.
[00:01:22] And suddenly his servant sees something that was there all along.
[00:01:27] Hills full of horses and chariots of fire. Surrounding Elisha, an invisible reality, bolder, brighter, stronger than anything threatening them in that moment.
[00:01:40] Spiritual warfare, I think y', all, is often about our seeing.
[00:01:46] There's what's obvious, yes. Pressure, struggle, exhaustion. The battle is right in front of us. You can feel it. It's in your gut, attention, the anxiety.
[00:01:55] But then there's what's real.
[00:01:57] God's presence, God's armies, God's mercy circling around every difficulty, with power and hope that we rarely notice.
[00:02:05] The enemy wants me and you only to see the problem, all the ways that this whole deal could fall apart.
[00:02:13] But God keeps inviting us to see more.
[00:02:16] What he's doing, who he's sending, how he's fighting for us. And did you catch how Elijah fights? I mean, Elisha, he fights not with swords or fear or bravado. I mean, he's not going Rambo on anybody. He prays. He asks God to open his friend's eyes. And then when the enemy's soldiers rush down, he prays again.
[00:02:40] It says, not just pray that my servant can see, but now pray and please make them blind.
[00:02:48] Suddenly, the ones bringing fear are confused and helpless. Elisha leads them to a feast instead of a fight, instead of destroying his enemies, he treats them with kindness. The battle ends not with victory shouts, but with an act of mercy.
[00:03:05] In spiritual warfare, y', all, sometimes the greatest weapon is not revenge or rage. It's a heart full of grace.
[00:03:12] I mean, if your enemy is hungry, feed him, is what the proverb says. It's not weakness. It's seeing the bigger story. The chariots on the hills. The mercy of God outflanking every force of darkness so it feels like the world is closing in. Sometimes it feels like maybe fear is louder than hope.
[00:03:32] If so, pause. Breathe, pray. Did you hear those three? Pause. Just stop for a second. Take a deep breath, and then pray. Ask God to open your eyes. There's more happening than you can see. The presence of God is closer than you think. And victory sometimes looks like kindness.
[00:03:53] Courage looks like choosing grace. You're not alone, friend. You never were.
[00:03:58] The hills are full. The battle is his.
[00:04:01] Even here, even now. So today, as you wage war with Satan, know this.
[00:04:08] The hills around you are filled with chariots of fire waiting to swoop down. But you gotta stop and pause.
[00:04:16] You gotta stop and catch your breath.
[00:04:19] You gotta stop and speak to the one who owns the chariots. God bless you, friend. Thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast.
[00:04:30] It.
