Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Could this happen?


Dear friends,

As I was reading in 2 Kings 7 last night, I came across a powerful passage which I would like to share with you. The context of the passage is a severe famine in the city, which caused food prices to rise so dramatically that some mothers even began to eat their own children. Convinced that the famine was from the Lord, the king of Israel became so frustrated and angry that he went with one of his officers to kill the Lord's prophet, Elisha. Below is Elisha's response to the king and to the king's officer.


1
Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria."

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?"
"You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"

The first impact of this passage comes from the reminder of God's power to completely transform even the most desperate situation overnight. We become blind to the power of God because we rest in the sin of unbelief. To protect ourselves emotionally, we make excuses for why God is not transforming our situation - but the deeper reality is that we are beginning to doubt his power.

The sin of unbelief is a bitter root which can destabilize and cause hopelessness in even the most committed Christian. It is better to protect ourselves from the sin of unbelief than to have a mindset that "must know" why God is not doing a certain work in our lives in the timing that we find acceptable.

The second impact of this passage comes from the realization that the officer of the king represents me! When I am in a desperate situation, I sometimes say or think, "Could this happen? Could God really change this desperate situation I'm in?"

Elisha's response to the officer is shocking: "You will see it (God's provision) with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!" Literally, the next day, the officer of the king saw the provision of God yet was trampled to death by people running to get it! This is shocking and frightening because we are also in danger of letting our circumstances lead us into unbelief and an inability to receive the Lord's provision when it comes.

We can walk in step with the Spirit of God by being a people who continually preach to ourselves against our hardness of heart. Pray with me now: "O Lord, my heart is so hard. I have made so many excuses to myself about why you have delayed the provision that I am waiting for. In my heart of hearts, I have doubted your power.

Forgive my unbelief Lord Jesus. Forgive my unbelief. I yield to you and give up my need to know how you are at work and when you will answer me - only do not let me miss out on tasting of your provision when it comes. I want to persevere with you to the end, believing that at any moment you can radically transform my situation. O Lord, even if you choose to keep my situation as it is - for purposes greater than I can see - cause my heart to soften and to rejoice in your great power! Let my heart sing your praises just as king David did in the depths of his despair. O Lord, How Great Thou Art! How Great Thou Art."

Let your soul sing in the Lord Jesus,

Jonathan

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