It is easy to misinterpret our circumstances when we are blinded by fear and disappointment. Sometimes our sin conceals what the Lord is doing in our lives. We believe He is against us, when in fact, His strong discipline is meant to draw us to Him!

Second Kings chapter 6 closed with the statement: “The Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.” (v. 23 ESV). This may seem like good news. But the Syrians had stopped raiding to prepare for a full-on invasion! The siege would produce famine and great suffering. Desperate citizens went to desperate measures to survive (6:26–31). The wicked king of Israel blamed Elisha and sent a man to kill him! He thought that since God had sent a trial, he could not trust that same God to deliver. He would deliver Israel himself by killing God’s prophet!

But the king failed to remember that the God of Israel used war and suffering to discipline His people, demonstrate His glory, and draw hearts back to Himself. He promised He would do this when He made the covenant with Israel (Deut. 28:25–53). The suffering did not mean the Lord was against them; it meant they needed to repent and wait on the Lord, because the Lord was for Israel.

God sent a message through Elisha indicating that the siege would be over the next day and food would be plentiful (7:1). The king’s right- hand man could hardly believe it, but the next morning, a group of lepers entered the camp of the enemy and discovered they had abandoned it leaving everything behind (v. 7). The siege was over. God had provided miraculously for His people (v. 6).

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