Things are not Always as They Appear
So they came and called unto the porter of
the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the
Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there,
neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as
they were. And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's
house within.
2 Kings 7:10-11
We are used to the notion that things are not always as they appear.
Computer effects in movies have conditioned us that in some
circumstances characters can change shape and appearance at will, and
that there are often mysterious forces lurking beneath the surface of
any event.
In real life it doesn't really work that way.
Or does it?
How many times have you come to a conclusion about something or someone
only to learn later that you were making assumptions based on only half
the facts.
That can be embarrassing.
That's one reason not to give someone a piece of your mind until you
are clear that your mind has the facts straight.
In another way, it is often true that things are not always what they
appear.
Wine stewards fill pots with water wondering what good that will do at
a wedding, until Jesus turns it into wine.
Jesus disciples wonder where a crowd of 5, 000 will get enough to eat
until they see what Jesus can do with the lunch of one boy who is
willing to share.
The Saduccees and Pharisees and Romans think they have seen the last of
Jesus, until they hear reports of an empty tomb.
Of course in each of those, what we do not see with our eyes is the
purpose of God in the event.
And that is true in this strange tale in 2 Kings 7.
This is during the lifetime of Elisha the prophet, and a little bit
earlier than Amos, somewhere between 700-800 B.C.
BenHadad of Syria is laying siege to the city of Samaria, rival to
Jerusale.
Elisha has warned the king about it, but of course is ignored until
they are near death from famine.
But God gives Elisha advance word that He will lift the siege and that
food will suddenly be plentiful again.
No one believes him when he tells them.
In the night, God causes the Syrian army to hear what they think is one
or more attacking armies, and they flee.
Come morning, some lepers who lived outside the city decide to go the
Syrian camp rather than stay there and die of starvation.
If the Syrians kill them, then they die quicker. If they get some food,
then wonderful.
They are acting totally in their own self interest, but what else would
a leper do since there was no one else to rely upon?
They arrive at the Syrian camp and find it deserted, with food and
plunder left behind.
While they are feasting, they decide they better to back and tell, or
the people of Samaria will kill them for not telling.
They arrive, and at first are not believed, but a scouting expedition
confirms their discovery and the city is saved.
The king is killed in the mad rush for food, also fulfilling one of
Elisha's prophesies.
Before the siege, when Elisha is warning them of God's punishment, they
did not believe him.
They saw no invading army, so they must be safe.
Life was not really what it appeared to be either before or after the
siege.
Disaster lay beyond the horizon, but
they did not care.
I would imagine that most of us have lived long enough to know
that life can change in a moment.
Everything can look serene and peaceful, but disaster can strike at any
time.
The people who went into work at the World Trade Center on September
11, 2001 could have had no idea about the plot nineteen young men were
just about to execute. For many thousands, life turned upside down that
day.
And we need not even worry about misfortune on such a grand scale.
You remember the TV ad in which a piano is falling from an upper window
just as the announcer asks, "Do you have enough life insurance?"
I hope you do, or that you have planned for the future.
Things are not always what they appear.
More important, I hope you heed Elisha and all the Biblical prophets
who ask, "is your eternal security policy in force?"
Are you on good terms with God and with others?
Life is not always what it seems, but when you stand in the shadow of
God's providence you don't need to fear the future.
If you are not sure, attend to it today. Are you positive about
tomorrow?
Things are not always what they appear.
God's mercy lay at hand though they
could not see it.
Inside the city, the people were starving.
But God was preparing a great banquet for them, courtesy the army of
Syria.
Elisha told them as much, but they could see with their own eyes that
Elisha was not to be believed.
But God did feed them, just as He promised.
Things are not always what they appear.
God is at work in your life in ways you could never imagine.
Every day is an opportunity to look to God to show how He is at work in
ways you could not imagine.
When disaster strikes, we respond with the full range of human emotion,
just as our creator built into us.
We respond with shock and disbelief.
We often respond with anger, and often disorientation.
We grieve, strike out, sometimes we just turn inward and wait out the
tidal wave of sorrow.
But somewhere in that normal process, we can learn that there is
another response available to us as well.
It is the exercising of faith.
When disaster strikes and we go into a tail spin, we can still reach
out for the hand of God.
When we have no more options open, we can turn to God to show us the
way.
A story I have told a number of people already, I will share with you.
As we looked for various ways to finance a new building and lead us out
of our stalemate here in this location, I became quite discouraged.
One day I was up walking the property behind us and praying.
My prayer was something like this:
"God it would take about ten million
dollars to do with this property what I believe could be done, but I
don't think I could raise a hundred thousand of that. Even a million
for a puny facility is out of reach for us. Lord we are small and many
have only fixed incomes.
But if you have someone who could lead us to find the resources, please
move me so that you can bring someone more capable than I am.
Don't let me be the reason we are held back.
In the meantime, I will continue doing what I know to do.
It's your church, but I don't know what to do. It's up to you.
Amen"
Now I know that I was not the only one praying, but that was my prayer.
I could not see a way we would accomplish what we needed to accomplish
and I was sure we were going to die unless God intervened.
Not long after that, through certain circumstances we met Patrick
Lenihan who was helping a church in Sidney build a new facility just
using their available land as their only capital, but putting a care
facility on their site.
We asked if he would meet with us.
He did and walked our property.
We all came back into the church and he sat opposite me at the table.
He said, and I can almost remember it word for word because he echoed
my prayer almost exactly:
He said, "I think we need about ten million dollars to make it happen."
We asked, where would we get that?
He just smiled and said the money is the easy part. The hard part is us
having the vision to move forward.
That was a huge eye opener for me.
I thought the lack of money was an absolute barrier. I should have
known better.
I had forgotten things are not always what they appear.
God has resources available to us if we will follow God's leading.
One other thing this lesson teaches us is that God may send news from
the most unlikely people.
Who would believe a bunch of lepers that the Syrian army had
disappeared?
As it turned out, no one but Elisha.
People are not always what they appear
either.
Listen carefully for the voice of God in ordinary conversations.
You never know who our Lord will use to speak to us.
Something I have seen over and over though, is that God will choose to
speak to us
in unique ways and will fashion it exactly to us when we are prepared
to listen and trust.
If you won't listen though, you will never hear.
It requires trust and faith.
You think you have things pretty much figured out for better or worse.
That is common enough and certainly normal human activity.
But keep one filing place open in your mind.
Things may not be what they appear.
God may be at work in ways that will surprise you.
Preached July 22, 2007
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian
Church
Victoria, British Columbia
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