“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.” (2 Kings 6:16f)
“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14)
What do we see in 2 Kings 6? We see that an Aramean army has tracked down Elisha and his servant and surrounded them. We see Elisha’s servant panicking. His eyes are filled with the sight of soldiers, horses and chariots. He can see them all too clearly. But God had the whole situation under control. That’s what Elisha could ‘see’ and, after a prayer, so could the servant: “the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17). A far greater and infinitely more powerful army of the Lord was all around them. The servant saw a situation that was hopeless, but God was present all along. Natural sight couldn’t see that but a simple prayer opened up a new vision of the circumstances.
It also got me thinking that a childish theology assigns every one of us a ‘guardian angel.’ I don’t know about you, but if that was true then I fear mine might be a very small one, probably very junior in rank, more an apprentice than time-served and definitely more amateur than professional. But this episode in 2 Kings reminds me that God’s angels are invariably awesome and powerful creatures. It seems to me that every time an angel appears to any of God’s people in the Bible, their first words have to be “Do not be afraid.” They are that terrifyingly impressive. A single angel will later defeat an entire Assyrian army (2 Kings 19:35).
So, whatever we find ourselves amid, do we see the problem or do we ‘see’ that “those who are with us are more…?” More numerous, more powerful, more potent, more present. Be encouraged. We have far more than a ‘guardian angel’ each. We have an army of horses and chariots and angels of fire around us and over us and with us.