Learning From Their Life: Elisha (Part 2)
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
Last week we looked at the life of Elisha, a prophet in Old Testament times. Since my time to share with you during the devotionals is limited, I couldn’t share everything with you about the life of Elisha that I wanted to, so here is a continuation of last week. Consider it the life of Elisha Part 2.
So last week we talked about what we could learn from Elisha’s radical obedience to God and the way he followed God everywhere God told him to go and did everything God told him to do. This week I want to examine the specifics of what God called Elisha to do and what it reveals to us about the character of God.
Remember how Elisha served as the replacement of the prophet Elijah? Elijah was a hated man who spent his life on the run because the people didn’t like the message God told Elijah to bring. The message being a warning of the coming judgement because of the peoples sin, especially the sin of idolatry. During Elijah’s time the nation of Judah not only heard the message of God’s coming judgement but they experienced that judgement themselves. God even withheld rain from the land for 3 and a half years, bringing severe famine throughout the kingdom (1 Kings 17).
But then Elisha steps on the scene and partakes in a very different kind of ministry than Elijah did. Where Elijah brought a message of God’s judgement, Elisha was used to teach the people God's ways and show them examples of God’s mercy, grace, love, kindness and care. In the book of second kings we see one example of this after another.
Examples of God's Intervention
A widow approached Elisha, desperate because her husband is dead, her creditors are calling and since she has no way to repay the debt, the creditors are about to take her two sons into slavery. But God through Elisha intervenes with a miracle and the widow was left with not only enough money to repay her debt, but actually live on too.
For years a couple tries to have a child, but time passes and there is no possibility of a pregnancy on the horizon. But God intervenes with Elisha as His messenger about the coming miracle and a son is born. Many years later that same son dies at a young age, but God sends Elisha to pray over him and the boy is literally raised from death back to life.
There is a famine in the land and people are going without, but when presented with the problem God through Elisha provides for the people, miraculously turning a sack of grain and twenty loaves of bread into enough to feed a hundred people with plenty left over.
God Truly Cares For His People
Elisha’s life is a testament to the way God cares for His people. Imagine what it would have been like to be on the receiving end of even one of these miracles? To be reminded that even though there were consequences for your sins that God still cared about your needs? What might have seemed like trivial wants and requests were not trivial at all to the Lord Our God, the maker of heaven and earth.
In the same way we can be assured as we read these testimonies and truths in scriptures that our needs are not trivial to God either. Even though you and I might have sinned, our sin does not blind God to our needs or take away the love, mercy, kindness and grace He has for us. Just like our parents don’t stop loving us when we disobey them, God doesn’t stop loving us when we sin. No, while like a good parent he allows consequences so we can learn, but His love is deep and His forgiveness is without measure. The way God intervened in the lives of His people in these stories remind us that sin doesn't have to be the end of our story. We can confess and repent and then expect to still be on the receiving end of God's intervention in our lives. He hasn't cast you adrift, believe that my friend. Ephesians 2:4-7 teaches us,
"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-7
God Tends To Our Well-being
God's love, mercy, grace and kindness are a gift we have all been given and one we should all cherish. What Jesus Christ has done in our life has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). And we can see from the way God used Elisha that God desires to restore us, heal our brokenness and bring life to what seems lifeless. They also remind us that God is not only concerned with our spiritual well-being, but our physical well being too. Closing off with a promise of provision from Matthew 6,
"So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 'So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.'" Matthew 6:31-34
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