A SURPRISE STORM

“When he was told, ‘Elisha is in Dothan,’ he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army there. They went by night and surrounded the city.” 2 Kings 6:13–14 (CSB)

Not all surprises are good. In fact, there are times when a surprise can be downright terrifying.

A tropical depression grew to a Category 1 storm in less than fifteen hours. Less than two hours after the storm intensified, Hurricane Humberto struck land, packing winds of 80 mph.

The 2007 storm surprised many as it intensified and struck under the cloak of night. The concern earlier in the evening was the slow speed of the system. The intensity startled the unprepared, shook the uninformed. Like a thief in the night, the storm stole the peace of those who thought the system would remain a small depression. What was once just a blip on the radar forced sleepy residents to take note.

What do you do when it comes without warning? How do you react to conditions that deteriorate almost instantly? A surprise storm such as Humberto forces us to hold tight and ride it out because there is nowhere else to run.

Elisha and his servant awoke to a surprise storm. The king of Aram sought to catch Elisha off-guard. He sent a force to surround the man of God at night, so when the next day shed its first light, Elisha and his servant had no way to escape. Though being surrounded by an entire army served as a grim wake-up call, especially for the servant, a God-sized surprise came a few minutes later.

As he scanned the horizon that morning, he saw the obstacle. He rushed back to Elisha and asked, “What are we going to do?”

Elisha prayed. He didn’t panic. He refused to devise some quick plan of his own. He prayed. Elisha’s prayer asked that the servant’s eyes be opened to see. The servant, through the power of the Lord, opened his eyes to see an angel army standing at the ready to help them against the adversary encircling them.

The shock came when the once unseen became visible. The army of man no longer looked too big to overcome when the angel army came into view. Though the servant and Elisha were caught by surprise that morning, the Lord was not.

Life catches us by surprise. Situations arise and struggles emerge without warning. We never planned on facing those sudden storms. A small disturbance in our lives becomes a fierce hurricane. Caught off-guard, we ask like Elisha’s servant, “What are we going to do?” Yet, the Lord stands ready, unshaken by that which has shaken us.

Instead of focusing on our limited abilities and the lack of a way out, we are prompted to open our eyes to a limitless God. Instead of listing all those things we cannot do, we say, “What can God do in this storm I’m facing?” He is already at work on it. He was aware of it before the first gust of wind or the first drop of rain. He saw the storm before it struck our lives seemingly from out of nowhere. And He is not shaken. Because of His nature, we can proclaim as David did in Psalm 62, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.” (Psalm 62:2 CSB)

Storm Preparation

• How do you respond to the surprise storms in life?
• When reading of Elisha and his servant, how can that shift your focus when a storm pops up?
• Why should we remember that we serve a limitless God when the storms rage?