A vision of angels

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 no, 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, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-17

What do you do when you are at your wits’ end? Your problems are mountain-high, your resources have run dry, and you can see no way through. 

I am grateful to God that I have never been in that sort of situation, not remotely so. I would like to think that, if ever I were, I would be strong and resolute, trusting in God in the thick of whatever was happening to me. But honesty compels me to admit that I have my doubts! Panic or despair seem much more likely.

Elisha and his servant are being hunted by the King of Aram, who regards him as a menace and an enemy. If he is able to capture him he will probably kill him. So we can understand the hopelessness of Elisha’s servant one morning when he gets up and finds the town where he and Elisha are staying surrounded by an army: “Oh no, my lord, what shall we do?” Caught like rats in a trap - what hope is there for them? 

But Elisha the man of God is untroubled. He gives a word of massive reassurance: “Don’t be afraid... Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And then he prays: “Open his eyes, Lord, that he may see.” 

And God does...

If you’re anything like me you may find it hard not to respond to this story with “If only things like this still happened today! Oh to have some kind of vision, some kind of proof, that God really is there, and that he is with me!” 

True, every so often you do hear stories, perhaps from missionaries in extreme situations, or Christians suffering terrible persecution, where such things indeed happen - and thanks be to God for them! But they seem to be very much the exception rather than the rule, let’s be honest. Most of the time, for us, it really is a case of “walking by faith and not by sight”.

Was it angels that Elisha’s servant saw? We don’t know. But it’s hard not to think of angels as we read the story. 

I must confess that I feel slightly shocked at myself that over more than fifty years as a Christian I have never really given much thought to angels. Indeed, over more than forty years as a minister I’m not sure I have ever either heard or preached a sermon on them. Certainly I have mentioned them, because they do crop up regularly in both Old and New Testaments; but that’s as far as it’s gone. It’s hard to avoid the question, do I really believe in angels at all?

I would never feel easy about asking God to reveal an angel to me - it would seem too much like what Jesus called “asking for a sign”, which we are forbidden to do (Matthew 12:39). But I wonder if perhaps we should seek to develop the kind of spiritual antennae that make us more aware of unseen spiritual forces, angels or otherwise - the kind of spiritual antennae that Elisha obviously had. 

And how do we do that? It can only be by going deeper each day in our relationship with God. And that should never be a means to an end; it’s something we either want or don’t want for its own sake - so take an honest look inside.

The essential message of the story, of course, is very obvious and very simple: as I heard it put once: “One person plus God is a majority.” Easy to say; hard to really believe. 

But even if most of us have never been in the shoes of Elisha’s servant, one good way to put this story to use in a practical way comes to mind.

The sad fact is that there are many people - thousands upon thousands - who have, and indeed who are in those shoes even as you read this. 

Many Christians - and others too, of course; let’s not forget them - are in prison cells and torture chambers; many are driven from home and suffering grinding poverty, cruel injustice and untreated sickness; many are desperately lonely and sad, perhaps unable to feed their children, having to watch events unfolding and unable to do anything about them. Their cry may be silent; but it is the same as that of Elisha’s servant: “What shall we do?” And there seems to be only silence in reply.

So could I encourage us all to pause for a few minutes and think about such people, and then to pray Elisha’s prayer...?

Heavenly Father, I think of all those who today are in the depths of hopelessness and despair, and I cry out to you on their behalf: Open their eyes, Lord, so that they may see. Yes, even give them at this very moment a vision of angels! Amen.