Please read all of 2nd Kings chapter 6:24 -7:20
7:1 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, “Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.” v.2 And the royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” (NASB)
7:5 And they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. v.6 For the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us” v.7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life.
7:12 Then the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore, they have gone from the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall capture them alive and get into the city.’”
There are so many truths that can be drawn from this story, but the one that caught my attention today was how prone we can be to assuming the worst. Actually, when you read this biblical account it is pretty understandable how the royal officer, the Arameans, and the king of Samaria came to such viewpoints. 1) Elisha claimed that within twenty-four hours food would be readily available at a time when the people of Samaria were so starved by the siege that some were resorting to cannibalism. Elisha’s words were of
little account in the opinion of the king’s officer. 2) The Arameans were tricked by God Himself who miraculously used man’s tendency to fear and assume the worst against Judah’s enemies. 3) As for the king of Samaria, he probably expected the Arameans to act like he would have. His heart was focused on
what he could or would do, not on the unlimited capabilities of God. They all had a level of logic compounded by fear, but all assumed incorrectly.
How can you and I apply this passage of scriptures to our own lives? Do we worry that we will not have groceries? Hey, the cannibals got fed (and I don’t mean they fed each other either). Are we overwhelmed with anxiety about what tomorrow will bring? Do we focus on the ‘what-ifs’ and the ‘what-abouts’ or on the trustworthiness of God? Did many of the things that we have worried about actually come true? Of those situations that did become reality, how many did we have to walk through all alone? Wasn’t God there with us when we called on Him? As for me, I have to remind myself to pray for my husband’s safety when his long drive home is running later than it should. It doesn’t help to fret about it. After all, worrying won’t get him back on the road anyway. Imagining the worst does not help one single problem in life, does it? Assuming the worst is one of the worst things people of faith can do.