Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 7

Then Elisha told the king, "This time tomorrow, food will be sold cheap here in Samaria."

Then, a close friend and servant of the king said, mocking, "Yeah, right, just like there are windows in heaven."

Elisha turned to him and said, "Oh, it will happen, but you won't be around to enjoy it when it does."

There were four leprous men at the gate of the city. They were irritable and hungry and said to each other, "What is the point in us just sitting here? Even if we went into the city we'd starve. If we go out to the Syrians who have us surrounded, they may kill us. Either way, we'll die. It's worth taking a chance." So the next morning, they went into the Syrian camp, but there was no one there.

The night before, God had made a great noise that sounded like armies approaching, and the Syrians thought that Israel had contacted their allies somehow and that the allies were coming to save them, so the Syrians took off running, leaving everything behind.

The lepers went in one tent and ate, then took all the valuables they could find and hid them, then went into another tent and did the same. Then, they stopped and thought about what they were doing.

"Anything could happen to us out here. We need to go tell the king." So, they went to the gate of Samaria and called to the porter, and told him what they had found. The porter sent a messenger to the king.

The King found it hard to believe. He said, "They are probably hiding out in the fields, waiting for us to come out so they can get in and take over the city."

One of the king's servants then said, "But, isn't it worth checking out?"

So the king sent two chariots out to check things out. He also sent his friend that had mocked Elisha to guard the city gates. When they came back with a good report, the people were so ecstatic about getting out and spoiling the tents of the Syrians for food and valuables that they trampled the guard to death.

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When you are surrounded by enemies, you may have to endure hard times and go through some nasty things; but, with patience, you will see that God will take care of the problem. It is times like these when you need to have the most faith; for if you doubt, you may see the light at the end of the tunnel but never reach it.

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