“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!”
2 Kings 6: 16 (NLT)
We’re all struggling to survive a spiritual wilderness. On Senior Survival, the seniors learned that to survive in a spiritual wilderness, they must first realize their situation and recognize that they need God to provide spiritual shelter, food, water, and hope.
Now, the seniors have returned from the wilderness and are ready to face the spiritual wilderness. It seems that countless responsibilities have caved in on us and are choking out our time to be still. We have realized our need for God and are ready to mend our relationship with Him, but it is so difficult to break away from the busyness of life to connect with God. At this point, many ask, “Why is this so hard?”
Let’s face it. Satan wants to kill us. As long as we did not realize our need and were wandering the wilderness oblivious to the fact that spiritual death was near, Satan was willing to leave us alone and let us die in our deceiving comfort. But the moment we realized our situation and started turning back to God, Satan stepped up the game. Instead of just surviving the spiritual wilderness, we now have to fend off the wild animals Satan sent to kill us. The thought is discouraging and frustrating. We ask ourselves, “Is there any hope?”
Jesus had His own wilderness experience. Mark 1: 1-13 describes Jesus’ baptism and how he immediately went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan. The beginning of verse 13 says, “And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts . . .” Jesus went through the same wilderness experience we’re going through. He was out in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, and surrounded by wild animals. It seemed as if He was never going to escape the wilderness alive.
The situation seemed hopeless; however, the end of verse 13 says, “. . . and the angels ministered to Him.” Yes, Satan has stepped up his game, but so has God. We may be facing more, but now we have more on our side.
If we’re struggling to escape the spiritual wilderness and surviving the overwhelming homework, jobs, and extracurricular activities bombarding us seems impossible, we must take heart because more are on our side than are on the enemy’s side.