This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day three of week six of our Look Through First and
Second Kings. We're still in chapter six of Second Kings today looking at this
story of God's protection, miraculous protection from the life of Elisha.
Yesterday we began to look at how do we make ourselves available to be involved
in this miracle of God's protection.

And the first thing you do is you listen to God's warnings. It's one of the ways
you make yourself available. Second way you make yourself available, and this is
the most striking thing about this story, the most memorable thing about this
story of protection in this chapter, is you see God's surrounding strength.

You see his surrounding strength. Listen to what happens at the beginning in
verse 11. Remember the king of Aram, he's going to be enraged at the beginning
of this.

He's enraged because the Israelites keep getting warned in advance about where
he's going to be. So verse 11, "This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his
officers and he demanded of them, 'Will you not tell me which of us is on the
side of the king of Israel?

' 'None of us, my lord the king,' said one of his officers. 'But Elisha, the
prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words that you speak
in your bedroom. Go find out where he is,' the king ordered, 'so that I can send
men and capture him.

' The report came back, 'He is in Dothan. ' And then he sent horses and chariots
and a strong force there. And he went by night and he surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning,
an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh, my lord, what
shall we do? ' the servant asked.

'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered, 'those who are with us are more than
those who are with them. ' And Elisha prayed, 'O Lord, open his eyes so that he
may see. ' And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and he saw the
hills full of the horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

When you and I are available to enjoy God's miracle of protection, it means you
have to see his surrounding strength. Look at the vastly different attitudes of
Elisha and his servant. The servant sees all these horses and chariots and he
thinks, 'What I would have thought.

What can we possibly do? ' What an example of what it's like to feel trapped.
They were trapped.

It's almost humorous that this entire army has come after one prophet, one man,
because of the power of God. They didn't realize it was God's power, not
Elisha's power. And they are seemingly trapped, surrounded by the enemy,
outnumbered, no way out.

You might feel like that right now in your business, in your finances, in a
relationship. You might feel that way right now because of the past or because
of something you're afraid of in the future. Too many of us spend too much of
our lives feeling exactly like this servant.

We're always looking over our shoulders in fear of the approaching army. We're
always looking ahead in fear of the invading army. Elisha has these simple words
and they're words that ring again and again and again and again in scripture.

You hear angels say them again and again. You hear Jesus say these words again
and again. He says to his servant, and God says to you right now, 'Don't be
afraid.

Don't be afraid. ' He had a security in his life in God's protection. Too many
of us spend too little of our lives feeling like Elisha.

What's the difference? What made Elisha different from his servant? Well, it was
an attitude built on a truth.

The attitude is don't be afraid. It's fear that causes you and I to live nervous
and worried lives. And let's be honest.

The truth of the matter is it's not the outer circumstances that are causing you
to live the kind of life that you're living. It's your attitude towards those
outer circumstances. There are others who have faced the same circumstances
you're facing, but they faced it with faith and they had joy.

Others were brought to Christ. Their family was strengthened. It is our inner
fears that cause us to live in these places of anxiety.

So the truth I need to hear again and again, I need to hear this every day of my
life, you need to hear this every day of your life, is don't be afraid. Don't be
afraid. Don't be afraid.

But how? I mean, I can say that a million times, but how do I do this? This
attitude has to be built on a truth.

If there's no truth behind it, it's just a platitude. I'm just saying it. How do
I not be afraid?

The truth that Elisha tells his servant is those who are with us are more than
those who are against us. The enemy is outnumbered. And I will tell you,
whatever you're facing in your life, whatever struggle you have in your life,
the enemy is outnumbered.

Hundreds of years later, John the Apostle re-echoes this truth when he says in 1
John, "Greater is he who is in me and you than he who is in the world. " Paul
added to that when he said, "Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ.
Nothing shall separate us.

" Now, how can I tell that the enemy is outnumbered? How do I know that? I need
a miracle.

This is where you need the miracle. And Elisha prays for that miracle in the
life of his servant. I pray for this miracle in your life.

The simple prayer was, "Lord, open his eyes. " This is what I pray for, for you,
for me. Lord, open our eyes.

The miracle of protection is that God can open our eyes to see his surrounding
presence, to see the inner strength that he wants to give to you. When you start
to feel outnumbered, when you start to feel trapped, you pray what Elisha
prayed. "Lord, open my eyes.

Let me see your surrounding presence. Remind me afresh of your inner strength. "
It's one of the keys to enjoying God's miracle of protection in your life.

And then there's a third key that we learn from this miraculous story of
protection. First, you listen to God's warnings. And second, you see his
surrounding strength.

And third, you anticipate his victory. You anticipate his victory. Verse 18 and
on.

Listen to what happens. "As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the
Lord, 'Strike these people with blindness. ' So he struck them with blindness,
as Elisha had asked.

Elisha told them, 'This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me and
I will lead you to the man you are looking for. ' And he led them to Samaria.

" It's almost humorous, isn't it? Let me just break in. Here's the man they're
looking to kill and he's leading them to the wrong place.

They're listening to him because they're all blinded. Verse 20. "After they
entered the city, Elisha said, 'Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can
see.

' Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked and there they were inside
Samaria. When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, 'Shall I kill them,
my father? Shall I kill them?

' 'Do not kill them,' he answered. 'Would you kill men you have captured with
your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and
drink and then go back to their master.

' So he prepared a great feast for them and after they had finished eating and
drinking, he sent them away and they returned to their master. " So the bands
from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory. Well I guess so, after this
experience.

After they're surrounded by the army, blinded, they could have been killed,
they're given a feast, they're sent back. It was better to send them back
because then the battle stopped. Look at what happened to this so-called
powerful enemy.

They were struck with blindness, they were led by Elisha, they were captured,
they were fed a feast, and they were returned to their land. I love it. It's
this picture of what happens to the enemies of God, rendered powerless, ruled
over by God's servants, held in God's power, and used for God's purposes.

Just think about how God uses even his enemies. The truth you need to hang on to
when you're facing these fears, and we all face them in Because there's things
that, look at, that's something worth being afraid of in this world. But God is
greater than even that fear.

God has promised ultimate victory over every enemy in this world. Matthew
chapter 12 verse 20, "He leads justice to victory," Jesus said. Romans 8 37, "We
have complete victory because of him who loves us.

" First John 5 5, "Faith is the victory. " Here's what you do. The next time it
seems as if one of God's enemies has gained victory over you as a Christian, you
stare it right in the eye, and you say this, "Enemy, you and I both know that
this is just a temporary setback.

You are certain to crumble. You are destined to defeat. You are looking to lose.

While you're awaiting Armageddon, I'm anticipating his arrival. You have a
future of failure while I've got a reservation for a resurrection. " That's what
you say, because you are the victor.

And that enemy of God, that enemy of God is going to lose it all. If you're
feeling anxious, you hang on to God's victories. You recognize his surrounding
strength.

You listen to his warning for protection. You know that he's going to be there.
Let's pray together.

Our Father, left to ourselves, there's everything to be afraid of. But in you,
those real circumstances that might hurt us or hurt people that we love, we know
that in the end, the ultimate victory is going to be yours, and that you are
greater. Here is he who is in us than Satan who is in the world.

So we don't even need to be afraid of Satan. Satan needs to be afraid of you. We
trust, we anticipate the victory of eternity.

And I pray for myself, I pray for every one of us, that you'd help us to live in
that place of trust. And that the miracle of your protection would stamp its
mark on my life, on our lives in such a way that we would live, we'd walk, we'd
decide in a different way. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.

Join us back tomorrow. We're going to begin to learn about faith that lives
above our circumstances from some of the good kings of Judah.