And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:17

How would life be different if you knew that you were surrounded by an army of angels armed and ready to attack at a moments notice? How would that affect the things you are currently worried about? What ‘dream’ that you’ve put on hold would be taken off the back burner and pursued? If you knew that you had an entire army at your bidding how would it affect how you feel about yourself?

The prophet, Elisha, was being pursued by an evil Assyrian King who was angry with Elisha because Elisha had warned the King of Israel of the Assyrian Kings attacks. Time and time again Israel was able to avoid defeat at the hands of the Assyrians. The Assyrian King decided that in order to beat the Israelites he would first have to do in Elisha.

One day, Elisha and his servant looked out beyond the walls of the city and saw the Assyrian army surrounding them. There was no escape. They were doomed and the servant feared for their lives! Elisha prayed and asked God to open the servant’s eyes. When He did, the servant saw hundreds of thousands of angels surrounding the army. Through divine intervention the enemy army was defeated and Elisha and his servant were safe.

There are times in each of our lives when it seems like the troubles and conflicts of life have us surrounded. We see no escape and we feel like we are doomed to failure. It could be finances, school, friends, broken relationships or the consequences of our own poor choices. These things keep us from living up to the potential that God has for us. But the Bible tells us over and over again that our Heavenly Father loves us dearly and has promised to protect us. Our Father desires for each of us to experience His love and protection when the enemy attacks.

Our finite minds are unable to fully comprehend the fact that we are surrounded by the spirit world. Ephesians tells us that every battle we have to fight is not a battle that we can see. The battle is really a spiritual one in which Satan and his angels want to attack us with worry, defeat, guilt, shame and a poor self image. Satan doesn’t want us to know all the things God has in store for us. He’s happy when we are miserable.

God’s army of angels is standing-by, ready to attack Satan’s angels and keep them from pulling us down. If we could see as Elisha’s servant saw, we would realize that we are surrounded by God’s angels, armed and ready for battle on our behalf. With God’s army of angels protecting us, we can freely pursue all that God has for us.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that you love me enough to protect me and fight for me. I praise you that even though I fail time and time again you want to bring me through the struggles of my life. Forgive me for constantly thinking that I need to fight my own battles. Keep me from listening to Satan’s lies. Help me see the warriors that you have on my side so I can live in victory for your name’s sake. Amen.