surrounded

it is so hard to wrap my mind around some things: what the world looks like to a bumblebee, how a plane flies across oceans, SmartPhones that are smarter than me, how an invisible virus or a tiny pill can have incredible effects in a body, and the idea that right now, as i sit in my air-conditioned room near all the comforts of a first-world town there are, on the other side of the planet, hundreds of humans hiding in caves and mountains.  hiding from other humans.  eating anything near-edible, drinking anything wet they can find.  sanitation and hygiene are a dream.  in every direction, there are enemies offering an impossible choice: surrender your God, or die. 

my first thought was one of confused wonder at how vicious people can be, how far they will take their anger at God and attempt to defeat Him by forcing His people to cave to their demands.

my second thought was just wonder… and anticipation.

everyone, even non-religious folks, knows the popular Bible stories and all kinds of illusions to Noah's Ark, Jonah, the Nativity, and a handful of the "really cool" ones.

but one of my favorite stories is one you don't hear much about, tucked away in the middle of a chapter in II Kings:

daily life in the East. a cruddy king ruled the nation, people did whatever they wanted, their first faith pretty much abandoned and the easiest person to blame was the prophet, who was just trying to bring his nation back to God. every year nations would go to war and fight over cities, livestock, trade routes, people, money and gods. faith was an integral part of the early humans' life.  they saw a clear connection between the physical and spiritual.  if the Philistines won the battle against the Moabites, then clearly Dagon was a better god than Baal, and if you offer enough sacrifices to either, neither, or both, your fortune will change.

problem: Dagon and Baal got nothin' on Jehovah, forgotten though He may be. and then Elisha, the prophet given the massive task of awakening Israel to this revelation- God hasn't forgotten you; return to Him and your basket of blessings will overflow. follow your own way, and He will let you- just know it's got some undesirable side effects.

so one fine spring Syria, who's been antagonizing Israel decides to take out  the city Elisha is residing in at the time- he knows too much, he's rooting for the "wrong" God, and they'll prove it by taking him out.

so Elisha and his assistant wake up one morning and see what would make any normal human tremble.

the whole city is surrounded.  soldiers, horses, and chariots beyond counting. there's no possible way out. the choice: surrender, or die. 

Elisha's servant feels the knot in his stomach, looks at his master and says (loosely paraphrased), "what the crap are we gonna do?!?!"

and Elisha just smiles and says, "nothing."  he just knows God's got this.  so he just prays, "God… let. him. see."

God answered- he saw.  all of a sudden, the barrier between visible and invisible, physical and spiritual, real and REAL- was ripped to shreds.  the sunlight paled in comparison to the newfound vision the servant now had.  he saw the soldiers. he saw the horses. he saw the massive army blocking the entire city in…

but the mountain that he and Elisha were standing on was completely full of a far more formidable army.  chariots of fire, surrounding them, encasing them and protecting them, against which nothing could stand.

Elisha prayed again, God struck the human Syrian army with blindness and confusion, and Elisha led them off to a completely different city before they realized they'd been duped and made a spectacle of themselves and their "god."

that army is still out there.  ISIS will know. they can force Nazarenes to their knees and make them say whatever they want about God, claim that Allah is greater and has won this battle, but…

that army is still out there. 

they may seem invisible, or impotent, or absent-

but i know that those mountains in Iraq are full of chariots of fire. 

i still can't smile like Elisha, and my blood pressure is probably rising more than his did over this desperate situation,  but underneath the horror stories there are glimpses, however brief or dim, glimpses of those angel soldiers keeping watch over their charges. 

i pray for eyes to be opened to the bigger Reality. for food and water to reach those who are clinging to their faith more than to physical life, but also that they see those chariots and know that they are not forgotten- by us or by God.  for the eyes of the terrorists be blinded and for them to leave- and then to realize that there is only one true God who protects His people and avenges all wrong in His own time. for the spiritually blind ISIS members to see the Way, the Truth and the Life, to drop their weapons and find mercy and grace on the only mountain it comes from; for them to run to Calvary, not Mecca and choose forgiveness and life over hatred and death.  

that army is still out there- you are surrounded!  which army surrounds you, and whether or not that sounds like good news to you will change depending on which camp you're in- and you can switch. if there's hope for me, then there is hope even for ISIS terrorists who come to faith.

Nazarenes- take hope.  that army is out there- you are surrounded and safe!  non-Nazarenes- take heed.  that army is still out there- you are surrounded!