"You just can't see the forest for the trees"
I'm not sure where that saying came from, but I love it. It's fairly simple. Undoubtedly tragic. I believe it's referring to a lack of vision, faith, and hope.
I don't normally include an entire passage of scripture in the blog, but today I can't resist. It will take an extra 2 minutes to read, you'll live, I promise. I came across this passage in 2 Kings recently, and I can't stop thinking about it:
'Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.
11 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in pDothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, qfor those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please ropen his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of shorses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” tSo he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria. - 2 kings 6:8-23
Take a moment, slow down, and ask yourself...."what is it I'm not seeing?" Usually when you can't see the forest for the trees, you're the last one to know you're even in a forest.
One thing we don't get insight into is how the servant ended up at this place in his story. Because we all have a story. I don't know for sure, but I'd assume he's a believer, so I wonder why he's lost his vision. He's Elisha's right hand man. I wish I could know the servant's story in more detail. Something in this servant's story led him to this particular place, with these particular thoughts, and this particular lens. And it didn't happen because of this one event.
"I believe the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God." - Donald Miller
Somewhere along the road in each of our stories we lose heart. We get lulled to sleep. It seems as though life has just come to a stand still. You find yourself in a job that isn't going anywhere. You do the same thing, at the same time, every single day. Your kids exhaust you. Your marriage has long since been intimate. You are worrying about finances, again. You're bored because the kids are grown.Volunteering at church becomes just another habit. You experience great tragedy.
Have you ever been in that place? Where all you see are your specific circumstances and you're asking those close to you, as the servant did "“Alas, my master! What shall we do?” The servant lost hope. His circumstances began to cave in on him like a title wave. A title wave of warriors about to bring the pain.We all lose hope. We fall into disbelief and give up.
"It is from this place of heart resignation where many of us, perhaps all of us at one time or another, having suffered under the storm of life’s Arrows, give up on hope. But our heart will not totally forsake the intimacy and adventure we were made for and so we compromise. We both become, and take to ourselves, lovers that are less dangerous in their passion for life and the possible pain that comes with it—in short, lovers that are less wild." - John Eldredge
Elisha clearly thought it was important that his right hand man SEE what was actually taking place. It would have been easy to just dismiss his servant, to tell him how little faith he has. Write him off because he can't see the forest. But Elisha Prays. He prays that the God would open the eyes of his servants heart, because this is where our hope comes from. I love this passage because I've been the servant. I've lost hope. I've lost faith. I've lost vision. I've walked through life doing whatever it takes to get through the day because my circumstances aren't how I imagined them. I believed it was easier to just exist. And it has cost me greatly.
Maybe you're the servant and you don't even know you can't see. Maybe you're Elisha and you need to fall on your face every single day and pray that someone's eyes will be opened to the Chariots of Fire that are just over the hills. I don't know what makes you come alive, but I do know that at our core, we were created to come alive in a billion and one ways. We were created to dream, and we were created to see things the way God sees them.
"Someone or something has romanced us from the beginning with creekside singers and pastel sunsets, with the austere majesty of snowcapped mountains and the poignant flames of autumn colors telling us of something—or someone—leaving, with a promise to return. These things can, in an unguarded moment, bring us to our knees with longing for this something or someone who is lost; someone or something only our heart recognizes. It is as if someone has left us with a haunting in our inner-heart stories that will not go away; nor will it allow itself to be captured and ordered." - Unknown
That someone is Jesus.
We have to do whatever it takes to not lose sight, to awaken our souls....we have to shake our heads a hundred times a day, like we're driving the night shift and trying not to drift off into a deep sleep...
Do something wild. More to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment