2 Kings 6:6-11: a reflection

6The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7He said, “Take it.” So he put out his hand and took it. 8Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” 9The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” 10The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice. 11The king of Syria’s heart was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

After a miracle by the Jordan, the passage turns to a curious episode in the war between Syria and Israel. Again and again, the king of Syria makes secret plans, We will camp in such and such a place, and again and again the prophet Elisha warns the king of Israel, Beware of that place, for the Syrians are going down there, so that Israel avoids the trap. This happens repeatedly, until the frustrated Syrian king, sure there is a traitor in his camp, is told: it is Elisha, who knows even the words you speak in your bedroom. The enemy's secret plans were no secret to God.

Notice what confounded the enemy: God knew their hidden schemes. However secretly the Syrian king plotted, God saw it, and revealed it to protect his people. The plans made in secret, in the privacy of the king's chamber, were fully known to God, who warned his own in time. No stratagem of the enemy could be hidden from the God who sees all.

That is a quiet reassurance about the schemes that come against us. The plots and pressures arrayed against God's people, however hidden, are not hidden from God; he sees them, and he is able to protect his own. We need not be undone by the secret schemes of those who oppose us, for the God who watches over us knows them all. When you feel vulnerable to plans laid against you that you cannot see, take comfort that nothing is hidden from God. He knew the Syrian king's secret plans; he knows what is arrayed against you, and he is able to guard you. Rest in the God from whom no scheme is hidden.

Lord, the king of Syria's secret plans were no secret to you; you revealed them to Elisha to protect your people, so that no stratagem of the enemy could be hidden from you. When I feel vulnerable to plans laid against me that I cannot see, to schemes and pressures I do not even know about, take my fear. Nothing is hidden from you; you see every plot, and you are able to guard your own. Help me rest in the knowledge that the God who watches over me knows all that is arrayed against me. I need not be undone by secret schemes, for you see them all. Keep me, Lord, from whom no scheme is hidden.