Notice When You've Stopped Noticing GodSýnishorn

I confess to occasionally being jealous of people in the Bible. God revealed himself more viscerally and tangibly back then than he seems to nowadays. In today’s story, Elisha’s apprentice, Gehazi, wakes up to find that they are surrounded by the Aramean army. In contrast, when Elisha woke up, he also saw the Arameans surrounding them, but he was cool as a cucumber. What was his secret? Despite the immediate situation, Elisha could see what God was doing; Gehazi couldn’t.

I relate to Gehazi in this way. I am prone to focus on my immediate circumstances more than on God’s presence. He saw his circumstances and immediately went into overwhelm. He thought this day would be his last day alive. In his defense, Gehazi had every reasonable reason to think that. But Elisha was relaxed because he could see the Lord’s army.

In this series of readings, we are learning to notice when we have stopped noticing God, so we can pause and relax into the Lord. How are your life circumstances today? Are you overwhelmed by all going on? Does the world feel against you? These can all be circumstances that cause you to ‘forget the Lord.’ Elisha’s prayer for Gehazi was powerful. "Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see." I envy Gehazi, who got an immediate, visual, and visceral view of God’s army surrounding the Arameans. It was all in God’s hands; it was going to be alright. Nowadays, I find it difficult to trust an invisible God. I don’t experience such visual and visceral evidence of God, which is why perhaps I struggle to trust. But trusting in a good God is still better than trusting in my own sight. Maybe you can pause today and ask God to show you His work, His ways. You may be in a genuinely difficult situation, a situation that requires advocacy or activism even. Noticing God is not about sitting passively while the enemy presses in, sometimes you have to fight. But still, you can take a moment and remember that God is with you. Take a few intentional, slow breaths and relax into God’s presence.