Not As Bad As It Seems

Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. II Kings 6:14-17 (NKJV)

Have you ever faced something and you thought it was something bad, but it turned out that it was not as bad as you made it out to be? Maybe you felt pain in your body and you thought the worst case scenario. Maybe your doctor ran some tests and you expected a bad outcome. The enemy will attack us with pain in our bodies, minds, emotions, relationships, finances, etc. He wants us to accept, believe and speak death over the situation, speaking a curse over what God has blessed.

The pain in your body might not have been anything serious- maybe not anything physical at all. But, if you spoke the worst case scenario, your words gave the devil legal access to wreak havoc. Or maybe the test results came back showing that there is a problem; it might even be a negative report. You must believe that God is with you and is on your side and that the weapon that has been formed against you will not prosper. You need to say that God will turn it for good (Romans 8:28).

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, II Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV)

God has given man an imagination, but we can use it to imagine things are worse than they really are. The Bible tells us to cast down wrong thoughts and imaginations by speaking the Word of God. Replace those bad thoughts with thoughts and imaginings based on God’s promises that will help you (Philippians 4:8).

We have to begin to see God bigger than what we face. We can slay every giant and possess every promise of God. No matter how bad it seems, we are overcomers, more than conquerors, and victorious.

Most of the time, things are not as bad as they seem. We must keep our eyes on God and trust in Him. We must let Him show us how things really are so we are not deceived or tricked into giving up and losing what we’ve been promised. No matter what we face, God is on our side. He is for us. He is with us.

Here is an example that, to the natural eye, did not look good, but it was very different in God’s sight. In Acts 7:54-60, Stephen was being stoned and it looked bad. However, he saw Jesus and how things really are in the heavenlies. He endured what he faced in the natural because he saw into the supernatural. What looked like his defeat was actually his victory. Another example is a disciple of John named Polycarp or Smyrna. He was the pastor there and was burned at the stake for his faith in Jesus Christ. According to church history, as he was martyred, he saw invisible things of God which kept him faithful, even unto death. My point is that no matter how bad things look, in truth, they are not as they appear.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

We never need to fear what we see in the natural, because things are not as they seem. Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, and don’t give up until you see the end result of victory and success.