Tag: 2 kings

Obedience in the little things

We all like to be noticed, right? We want to be asked to do a job that is big and important. Something that will be noticed when we get done. Many people like to be in the spotlight so that when they do something it is noticed. Our human nature wants to feel important, appreciated, and needed.

Yet, although it’s good to recognize people, and let them know they have done a great job, sometimes God is going to call us to do the ordinary so that we don’t get the glory, but that God does. The man Naaman who had a skin disease, called leprosy, had a problem that many of us have. He wanted to do anything that would make him look better, stronger, or tougher but it was harder for him to do an ordinary thing, so God could do the extraordinary. We see that Naaman came to the prophet Elisha because, he had been told by his wife’s servant girl, that Elisha could heal him of his leprosy. Now remember Naaman was a man that had worked his way up in the ranks of the army. He had strips on his uniform and was well known for his leadership skills. He was a man that could be depended on yet, he had an annoying thing about him that he was ready to get rid of and that was his skin issue. So, when he heard that there was this guy that could make it go away, he was going! He took a bunch of gold, and gifts, and headed out with one of his officers. When Naaman finally made it to Elisha’s house, Naaman expected this man to come running out and just heal him. But, to Naaman’s surprise the man Elisha didn’t even come out of the house! He sent his servant to talk to Naaman. Naaman the man that was a high-ranking official felt slighted because a servant came to talk to him and then, to make things even worse, all the servant told him was to go and wash in the muddy Jordan river seven times. Naaman was so mad he stomped away and pouted. Naaman was headed home, he figured he could go to a river near to him and get the same results that bathing in the Jordan river could do for him. It was the words of his wise officer that stopped him. He said Naaman, if Elisha had asked you to do some great thing you would have done it. Why not humble down and just try. I can see his officer now saying look, were out here in the middle of nowhere, no one can see us, if it doesn’t work then what happens at the Jordan, stays at the Jordan. So, Naaman agrees, he immersed himself seven times and on that seventh time he came up healed!

How many times has God asked us to wash in the muddy Jordan, yet we rebel because its not what we want to hear, the word God gave us came from a place or person we didn’t want to hear it from. Or maybe we don’t do it because its NOT where everyone can see, that we did it. As a Christian were told that we must decrease so God can increase. It’s not till we take ourselves out of the spotlight and agree to let God use us in the small things, and in the quiet ways that we will be able to see God move in the BIG ways! Take a moment to reflect and ask God what is it that He has been trying to get you to do that you have let your pride of being noticed get in the way. And, ask God to help you step aside so he can step up!

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. (CSB)
Mark 9:35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all”. (CSB)

Identity

As a young girl every summer I would go to a church camp and spend the week there. When I was a pre-teen and growing up if someone would ask me who I was, I would just tell them my name and they would have no clue who I was, but if I would say I’m so and so’s daughter, ahh then a light bulb would come on and everyone knew who I was. As I got older and went on to Bible Collage people started to know me with out me mentioning my parents because I started to develop an identity of my own. We all have been known for either who we used to be, or who we associate with. Even in the Bible the great men of God were identified this way.

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha had just watched his beloved leader Elijah be taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire. The one thing that Elisha requested from Elijah was to have twice the amount of God’s blessing on his life that Elijah had. When Elijah was taken away, Elisha picked up Elijah’s coat and took it with him. When he came to the river, they had crossed earlier, Elisha called out to God and asked for Him to show Himself to him. The waters of the river split, and Elisha passed back through on dry ground again, just as he and Elijah had done earlier. The people that were watching were impressed and spoke about how God was now with Elisha. Then, the very next chapter, in 2 Kings, the Israelites were going to war against another country and the kings were asking to speak to a prophet. One of the soldiers said, hey there’s a guy with us that used to be the right-hand man for Elijah, maybe he could help. Let’s stop here and think about this. Elisha had just been blessed with double the blessing of Elijah, and he had just split the waters of the river, yet, he was still known as just the “right-hand man of Elijah”. Elisha’s identity was still on who he used to be.

We are so often known by our past, and when we become a Christian it may take some time for our friends and family to see that were different. They may still see us as the sinner we used to be that was out every Friday night, or the mother that was always short tempered with her children, or the husband that didn’t care for his wife like the bible instructs him to. We all have a past that can be hard to separate ourselves from. To change how people see us takes time and walking close to God and listening to His voice. As time starts to pass people will start to forget the man or women you used to be, and you will be known for who you are now.

Although we want to be remembered and recognized for the person God has changed us into we must also remember that what we did in the past good or bad, is what we can use as a testimony to see lives changed. Elisha’s past of always being close to Elijah, helped train him to be able to accept the double blessing from God. Without his past he would never have been ready for that. We can look at Saul, who had a terrible past, he was a murderer, a leader of a terrorist group. His whole purpose in life was to kill the Christians. But, one day he meets Jesus and he was soon a changed man. Saul even changed his name to Paul and it took some time for people to no longer see him as the evil man he was. Every time Paul got the chance to give his testimony, he would tell of his awful past and then tell of how God had changed him.

Today remember that no matter your past, or what you have done, you can change how people view you and how they recognize you. Also remember that your past no matter what it is, is also your testimony because it is that past that can witness to people to show them that there is a way out of the situation they are in. This week I challenge you to share your salvation story with someone, it may change their life! You can share how God uses you in the comments below.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! (CSB).