Ep. 18 - Surrounded Pt. 2

In this episode of the Take 10 Podcast, host Tameka dives into the story of Elisha, sharing scriptures from Second Kings 6. Part Two of the Surrounded series will lead listeners down a path of faith and God’s supernatural power. Unpack the moment when Elisha’s servant, in fear of the great army surrounding them, asked for guidance. She draws analogies from the scriptures, using them as lessons for modern-day leaders and mentors about perspective-sharing.

Join Tameka for a thought-provoking exploration of God's power, faith, and divine protection in episode 18, part two of the Surrounded series, and learn how God's overwhelming strength surrounds us, even in battles that seem unbeatable.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Music.

(00:14):
Hello and welcome back to Take 10. This is your host, Tameka.
I am so excited that you decided to join us for episode 18, part two of Surrounded.
All right, let's get into our base scripture.
Second Kings 6, 13 through 18.
It reads, so the king said, go and see where he is that I may send men to capture him.

(00:37):
On receiving the report, Elisha is in Dothan.
The king of Aram sent horses, horses, chariots, and a great army.
They went there by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man
of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots
had surrounded the city.
So he asked Elisha, Oh, my master, what are we to do?

(01:00):
Do not be afraid, Elisha answered, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
Then Elisha prayed, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.
And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw the hills were full
of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord,

(01:25):
please strike these people with blindness.
So he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Let's get into it. Now, the king King of Aram has now found out where Elisha is at.
He's upset because every military move he makes, he is now defeated because
they are never there because the king of Israel is listening to Elisha,

(01:47):
the prophet. He finds out where Elisha's at.
He gets horses, chariots, and a great army to get one man. Okay.
First of all, let's just pause here.
One man. He did all of this to get one man, right? Now, this is the same one.
The king of Aram's servant said, he can even hear what you say in your bedroom.

(02:09):
He finds out he's there. They go there by night and they surround the city.
So when Elisha's servant gets up and he goes out early, an army with horses
and chariots has surrounded the city.
He says, oh, my master, what are we to do?
So let's think about this. He's saying, what are we to do? So there's nothing
wrong with asking the question. He didn't run away.

(02:31):
He didn't panic. he asked a really good question, but the key word in his question is we.
So I looked at the ESV version. I read the New International version.
I even read the New King James version, and they all had the word we in there.
So how many of us do that, where we think that we're supposed to do something

(02:53):
as if this is our battle? God convicted me about something.
I was saying, I was dealing with something professionally, and I kept saying,
we're outnumbered, or it's more of them than us, or I am alone, right?
Or I'm outnumbered. I would say this and God corrected me and he took me to
the scripture and he showed me, I'm sitting here thinking that we are outnumbered, but Elisha said,

(03:18):
do not be afraid for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
That's what God showed me. God showed me, you think that you're in this alone
and you think that you're outnumbered, but you forget, you forget they're outnumbered.
And not only that, it's coming with fire, right? Right.
So Elisha prayed, Oh, Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.

(03:41):
And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man. He saw that the hills were full
of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Now, let's think about that. So the king of Aram, he sent horses and chariots of a great army.
And so God has horses and chariots, but his chariots of fire. Can you imagine that?

(04:05):
I Googled that. I put chariots of fire and I think it's a movie,
but there's this one image.
If you just go to Google images, this is one image that I thought of when I
thought of horses of chariots and they are in the hills and they are now surrounded.
So I'm like, okay. So I'm thinking if I was this servant, I would be like,

(04:25):
oh, it's about to go down.
Right. That would be my thought.
And the funny thing is, after all of that, the Lord opened his eyes so that
he, one, wouldn't be afraid.
Two, he would see the power of God. But three, it just, oh my gosh,
like this is just so amazing because it says, as the Armenians came down against him,

(04:49):
Elisha prayed to the Lord, please strike these people with blindness.
So he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Now let's think about this. now they're there
with their horses and their chariots and they have a great
army now we also have the
horses and chariots of fire in the hills so you know that's a great army first

(05:11):
of all it's one that's on fire and when you think about something that is on
fire fire is all consuming it's a purifier it refines right and so you already
know literally in the words of like Kevin Hart,
it's all about to go down, like literally.
And that's what I'm thinking. Oh my gosh, like this was a movie.

(05:32):
I want to see this movie. I want it because you know it's going to be action. No, no.
Elisha prays that they are blinded. Now I wonder, because I'm like, wait a minute.
So as I'm thinking about this, I'm like, wait a minute. Is this the same Elisha?
Because Because in 2 Kings chapter 2, these boys were jamming Elisha and he cursed them.

(05:53):
And Beers came out and killed 42 of these boys.
Is that the same Elisha? Like, what is happening here? Is this the same person?
It is. It is the very same Elisha. And I wonder, I don't know this.
I want to look this up to see what the time frame was between 2 Kings 2 and 2 Kings 6.

(06:16):
I couldn't find it. But I just wonder, I wonder, and we'll see in part three,
like what was Elisha's plan here?
Like, I am curious, what was he trying to do? Because he already demonstrated
that he could see and pray for his servant's eyes to see.
If I was a servant, I would be so excited. I remember having an employer who gave me perspective.

(06:41):
So I didn't know why they were doing the things they would do,
But they would sit there and I always had questions like this servant did.
I had lots of questions, but they would teach me and they gave me perspective.
And when I am now in the role that these people were in, I'm able to see and
I find myself as a leader sharing perspective with people. I'm sharing with them the why.

(07:03):
This is why we do this, right? Because I'm looking to open their eyes.
I'm looking to make sure that they can see the full picture. I see the full picture.
I have a different vantage point and I'm trying to bring them into my knowledge
so that they can see their vantage point.
That is the role of a true mentor and teacher.
So there's a lot to learn in this small little snippet.

(07:26):
But I think the piece about this that always just stands out for me was that
it wasn't that he said, don't be afraid for those who are with us are more than
those who are with them. He didn't leave it there.
He said, oh, Lord, please open his eyes that we may see.
So this is probably a message for leaders, parents, guardians,

(07:47):
mentors, educators, whoever, right?
It's one thing for you to know something. It's another thing for you to allow
people to see for themselves and not in a bad way, but in a way that will change
their perspective, that will shift their life.
All right, let's pray. Father, we just come to you and we just say, thank you, God.

(08:08):
We also ask that you open our eyes so that we can see the goodness and the power
of God so that we can see that for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
Show us God open up our eyes don't cause
us to be afraid and feel like we're surrounded and
feel like we are outnumbered God because you are

(08:30):
mighty and we know that you're powerful we ask God that you just have your way
and that you continue not to just open our eyes but allow us to give us the
foresight to help those that are coming up behind us to open their eyes we pray
all these these things in your name. Amen.
All right, this is part two. We have one more episode in this series and I will see you.

(08:52):
Music.