*** Please read the scripture from the Bible first as this is God's good Word!! ***

You Must Place ALL of your TRUST in GOD ONLY!

Here we have yet another situation where King of Syria just north of Israel, wanted war with Israel (Sound familiar?). Elisha faithful servant of God was sent to forewarn the King of Israel of the attacks that Syria had planned. The King of Israel was able to avoid the attacks as the Syrians had plotted, and the Syrian King was very frustrated. In fact the King of Syria believed that there was someone in his army that was leaking information to Israel. When the King confronted the army asking who was infiltrating them, one of the servants replied to the King by explaining that there were no traitors but that a man by the name of Elisha was assisting the King of Israel with his prophecies, the servant told the King of Syria that Elisha knows what he speaks of in his 'bedchambers' (Bedroom).

The King of Syria sent forth a spy to find Elisha, and when they spotted him, the King then sent an army to capture Elisha. The army set for the city of Dothan where Elisha was and surrounded the city during the night. One of Elisha's servants spotted the army early in the morning and went to tell Elisha that they were surrounded and frightfully told Elisha "What will we do?".

Very Calmly Elisha said "fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them", and Elisha prayed to God that the servant might see His power, and God showed the young servant an army of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.

Then the army began to approach Elisha, and Elisha prayed once again that God would strike the army with blindness in such that they wouldn't recognize Elisha and God answered the prayer. Elisha told the army from Syria that the man they were looking for was not there in the city of Dothan, and he told them to follow him, and Elisha led them to Samaria.

When they reached Samaria, Elisha once again prayed to God that he would open they eyes to the Syrian army, and God answered. The Syrian army then recognized that they were in Samaria surrounded the the army of Israel. The King of Israel then asked Elisha if he should slaughter them, and Elisha said "No, why would you slaughter them with your sword and bow even after you have taken them captive?", Elisha then said, " Give them bread and water so that they may eat and drink and go".

Then they sent the army of Syria back to Syria. The Syrians didn't come back into Israel.

Faith is the key to everything in matters of obedience for the one who claims to follow Christ. Most failures are failures of unbelief.

So, why should we believe?

1. Because God is wise. (God is omniscient, which means he knows all. He not only knows your past, present and future state, he also knows all the "what ifs". Its so hard for us to comprehend the amount of knowledge that our Lord has, but all the better reason to trust in He who knows all. In this story God used Elisha to prophesize His message to the King of Israel to avoid confrontation with Syria.)



• We have no strategy that he doesn't know about. (He knows us better than we know ourselves. He even knows our thoughts and deepest darkest secrets.)



• We have no secrets that he cannot reveal if he chooses. (Even though God knows our secrets, he may choose to reveal them, so just because you are pretty good at hiding stuff from friends and family, it doesn't mean God won't reveal it to suite his purpose.)



2. Because God is strong! (God is also omnipotent, which means God is all powerful. God can do anything he desires at any moment when he chooses to. God revealed his strength to the young scared servant. When God revealed his power, he did it in a manor that the servant could comprehend, by using horses and chariots of fire.)



• His power is an overwhelming comfort to those who fear Him and put their trust in Him. (Doesn't it make sense that we place all our trust and dependence on He who has all the powers of the Heavens and Universe?)



• His power is impossible to overcome to those who would fight against Him or those who are faithful to Him.



3. Because God is good. (God could have let the Israelites slaughter the Syrians, but he didn't. God granted them mercy and not only fed them but let them go.)



• He honors the prayers of his servants. (We saw that Elisha prayed and how God answered his prayers immediately. God won't always answer prayer immediately but God's timing is always impeccable we just need to have patients.)



• He is more merciful than men. (We as men have the tendency to want revenge as the King of Israel did, however we need to obey our Lord and forgive.)