Compassed about...

Have you ever felt surrounded by trouble?  It could be illness, financial needs, relationship problems, or any number of things that you can't see your way out of or through.  You feel surrounded.  The prophet Elisha faced a situation where he was surrounded by the Syrian army.  God kept revealing to Elisha the battle plans of the Syrians against Israel.  When the king of Syria found out who the culprit was that kept spoiling his battle plans he sent an army to surround the city where Elisha was.  The situation looked hopeless, until the Lord opened up the eyes of the servant of Elisha to see the invisible armies of heaven.  The mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.

As I've been reading and praying through the topics in the book, Fervent-A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer by Priscilla Shirer,  I've been reminded of the futility of wrestling against flesh and blood, and the power of praying against the plans of the enemy that is at work behind the scenes, (and yes, he uses willing human beings).  For example, if someone is lying, gossiping, or falsely accusing me, my temptation is to defend myself and then try to expose the other person's weak character.  However, the best solution is to let God and His armies of heaven fight on my behalf.  How do I do that?  On my knees.  In that situation, I would ask God to shut up and shut down the work of the enemy through that person.  I would ask Him to be my defender.  I would ask Him to deflect and defuse all of the weapons of the enemy formed against me.  Each time I want to self-defend or lash out, I have to remind myself that my real enemy is not what I can see, but the enemy of my soul who comes to steal, kill and destroy.

It was with a two day old migraine, and physical and mental sluggishness from the muscle relaxer I took in an attempt to stop the neck and back spasms that cause the migraines, that  I approached my devotional time this morning. I told the Lord my need for Him to break through my foggy mindedness and my desire to hear Him speak to me. I opened my She Reads Truth app. on my phone, and saw that today's reading was Psalm 32. Immediately the words compassed about in verse 10 stood out to me. so I looked it up in the original language, then cross referenced its occurrence in the Old Testament. There I saw that it was used in this story about Elisha in 2 Kings chapter 6.  God used this to remind me that when I feel surrounded by a situation or circumstance that I can see no way out of or no way through, when I feel surrounded by the enemy, the reality is that I am surrounded by, compassed about with, something greater than all the demonic forces in hell, I am surrounded by the mercy and lovingkindness of God.  Verse 7 of chapter 32 uses the same word that is translated as compassed about in verse 10, only it translates it as surround.  This verse declares that God is my hiding place, He preserves me from trouble, He surrounds me with songs of deliverance.  I love that.  I'm pretty sure that singing God's praise and the truth of Who He is a powerful weapon that drives the devil crazy and causes him to flee!

I don't know what difficult situation or circumstance you may be facing, but I pray that God will open your spiritual eyes so you can see His armies that are at work on your behalf, that He will give you a song of deliverance to sing, and that His strong walls of mercy and loving-kindness would be an impenetrable fortress around you.

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