November 17th, 2023

This quote has been on my mind since my friend sent it my way a couple of months ago. I keep coming back to it, and it is shaping the way I think about prayer.:

"Regardless of what crisis or complexity may be threatening to engulf your life, God is at work. You may not see it, but you need to know it’s true. And He’s not just doing one or two or a few things in that situation. He is doing a thousand or more things." -Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Especially over these last couple of weeks, I have felt as if someone clicked, dragged, and dropped me inside of these words. As our family has walked through a recent crisis, as we've faced complexities and problems that threatened to engulf us, as our friends have surrounded us, lifted us up, and carried us in prayer, we've seen God move and protect and provide and open the way before us in ways we never could have imagined. In ways we could not have orchestrated on our own. We've seen circumstances play out in such a way that, when we look back and put the pieces together, we realize a number of seemingly random, separate things that worked together for our good. 

This idea of God working in a thousand or more ways that we cannot see reminds me of a story in Scripture found in 2 Kings 6. The king of Aram had sent his army to capture Elisha the prophet (the man of God) and his men. 

15 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.
16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that 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.

". . . God is at work. You may not see it, but you need to know it's true. "

Like Elisha's servant, I am often fear-stricken by what I see right in front of me. At times it has felt like an enemy army surrounding us. So I've been praying for God to open my eyes, that I may see what is really going on, in the vast spiritual world I cannot see with my human eyes, beyond the circumstances I'm facing. Maybe you need your eyes to be opened, too?

I'm praying that I could see His army surrounding us and know that "those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Maybe you need this assurance, too?

I'm remembering that our God is able to do immeasurably more than I can think or even imagine, according to His power at work within us (Ephesians 3:20-21). Maybe you need to be reminded, too?

I'm realizing that God is even now answering prayers I've been praying for months and years. That in the midst of everything falling apart, God is at work, restoring, healing, and working things for our good. To him be glory . . . throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.









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