HAVE FAITH

Keeping faith

There is a story in the Bible in 2 Kings 6:1-23. The story starts with the miracle of the floating axe head and proceeds to talk about the involvement of Elisha in the battle between Israel and Aram. Some of you may be wondering which country Aram is. Syria today was called Aram back then, so these battles between Syria and Israel started a long time ago. Back then, men of God, especially prophets, were involved in wars. Verses 8 to 13 talk about how Elisha was involved in the war. Whenever the king of Aram (Syria) made a plan or set a trap to attack Israel, Elisha would know about it and warn the king of Israel about the plans. The king of Israel would then plan according to the information from Elisha. Imagine a prophet providing divine intelligence to the king of his country that would be used strategically for the war; that was amazing.

However, when the king of Aram (Syria) realized that all his strategic planning against Israel was failing, he thought there were Israelite spies among his soldiers. In verses 11 and 12, the king of Aram summoned his officers for inquiry, and it was found out there were no spies in his camp. Instead, it was Elisha who was responsible for giving out intelligence to the king of Israel. In response, the king of Aram (Syria) sent soldiers to capture Elisha. When the servant of Elisha saw the Aramean soldiers, he became scared and panicked, not knowing what to do next, as they were not soldiers themselves; they were prophets led by Elisha. They knew nothing about fighting. Elisha answered his servant and said:

“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)

Then Elisha prayed to God to open his servant's eyes. The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Then the Aramean soldiers came near Elisha, and they were struck with blindness.

What do we learn from this story? Well, like Elisha said, those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Let us take these words and apply them to your context. Imagine you are facing some battles in your life and, without opening your physical eyes, a Pastor or someone tell you to not worry and and says, "Those who are with us are more than those who are against us." that God is going to fight for us and give us victory.Would you believe him? Of course, not everyone would believe it. Even the servant of Elisha became so scared and went into panic mode until Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened.Elishah knew, that was the only way the servant would believe.

Similarly,We are not better than Elisha's servant in any way.Fear and panic become our default setting in the face of challenges. We find it hard to believe God nor his words until we see something happening. We live by sight, and because sight involves substance, it becomes the foundation of our faith. However, the Bible says the opposite. God wants us to live by faith and not by sight for without faith it is impossible to please God.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

What is faith then? Well, Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Meaning, the fact that you do not believe does not mean that God is not there nor his promises do not come to pass. On the contrary, the fact that you believe does not mean you have to see it, because faith says it is already there. For instance, if you are praying to God to save you from your enemies, you do not need to see the battle or the heavenly army around you. All you have to do is believe that God has answered your prayer and that heaven is fighting for you, even if you can't see it, because faith says God is already there attending to the matter. Instead of searching for evidence or signs, you just have to believe.

However, it is not as easy as it has been written above because every one of us struggles with our faith in God at some point in time. We normally struggle with our faith when the issues or problems have persisted for so long. Sometimes we struggle with our faith when we feel that God has delayed in answering our prayers. Consequently, we tend to take matters into our own hands because we feel we must respond to the fears that we have been exposed to at that time concerning the situation which we are seeking the Lord for. It happens to all of us.

However, God wants us to have faith in Him at all times. How can we have faith? Well, it is by hearing and hearing the word of God.

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)

The more we spend time in God's word, the more prepared we are to keep our faith during times of trials and persecutions. The more we meditate on the word of God, the more the Holy Spirit gives us revelations, dreams, instructions, and wisdom on how we can overcome every challenge in faith.

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:2)

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to His word and strengthens your faith today so that you may withstand times of trials in Christ Jesus.