There Are More with us then against us

This is Carter Conlon. Welcome again to my kitchen, where I'm doing a series of devotionals on the topic of why I'm not afraid. And it's just a pleasure to be here with you most every day, just to share the things that God is placing on my heart. And hopefully, just living my life as a believer in Christ can be an encouragement to you. It's so important that, as the Bible says, iron sharpens iron, that we share with one another the thoughts that God's placing in our hearts, and be involved in building each other's faith, not being part of that which causes fear in each other's hearts. I want to share with you from a story in the Old Testament, in a season where a servant of a man of God woke up one morning to find himself and the man of God literally surrounded by enemies that were intent on taking away their testimony and taking away their freedom. That kind of fear is always prevalent in times throughout history. So here's what happened. It says, there were horses and chariots and a great army sent around the city, and they surrounded it at nighttime. And the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, and there was an army surrounding the city, and he said, Master, alas, what shall we do? And Elisha, the prophet, answered and said, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And here's what I believe that we need to see, not just the promises of scripture, that's important as well. But we need to have eyes to see the blessings of God and the strength of God that is all around us, if we are willing to see it. In my life, for example, right here in my kitchen, my lovely wife, Pastor Teresa, is home and quarantined with me, and it's become such a blessing, because we've been 10 years spending a lot of time apart because of her calling to our Bible school, Summit International School of Ministry in Grantville, Pennsylvania. And it's always been a tremendous sorrow of heart to us to have to part on early Tuesday morning and not get back together sometimes till late into the weekend. But God, in his mercy, has brought us together, and it's been such a blessed time, because this kitchen, quite often I'm alone in it, or have been for the last 10 years, but now it's just filled with the smells of wonderful cooking. And I'm telling you, the best chicken soup you have ever eaten in your entire life. And so I could spend my whole day reading the news and focusing on the woes that are all around me, and somehow miss the blessing and the strength that God has placed in my life every day. Can I challenge you to do something today? Just take a look around you. Who's in your life that's a blessing to you? Who maybe are you able to spend more time with? Which child, which husband, which wife, which sister or brother? What is it that God has placed in your life that will give you the ability just to see the hand of God with you in a way that you're not familiar with? His blessing is all around us. And remember the words of Elisha to his servant, there's more with us than are with them. God bless you. We love you. Have a wonderful day. See you again tomorrow.