2 Kings 2:11-15
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
In drama, we were taught that if we felt comfortable in our role then we weren’t playing that role well enough because in drama, things must be over the top, and in order to reach that level, we must place ourselves outside of our comfort zone.
There’s a song by Brandon Heath called “Don’t Get Comfortable”
I’ll read you a few of the lyrics: Yesterday, this is not yesterday. You were standing on my shoulders now you’re standing on the edge, You’ve been looking for a sign all this time, if you seek you’ll find Me every time.
When was it that we came to a comfortable spot with God where we felt we could just sit back and do nothing? In order to reach far above what we can merely fathom God has planned for us, we must step outside of our comfort zone.
Sometimes that outside comfort zone area leads us to a point where we may not feel like God is there. Sometimes we feel alone and detached from the rest of the world. The Bible says “…we beseech you brethren, that ye increase more and more. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,” in 1 Thessalonians 4:10-11.
Serving God at times requires us to be in that place. To be quiet, to do work that others may not see. To be about the business that God has placed upon us in our personal lives. It’s not about what position we are placed in, or how often we get behind a pulpit. If we decrease in our relationship with God, in the business of our Father, then the more we try to reach others, the more likely we will not succeed. Why? Because there is something that comes with a continual connection to the Father. We cannot correctly represent our Father if we do not know Him.
As the phrase goes, “Like Father, like son.” So as the sons and daughters of God, we should, I would hope, have a close relationship with our Father. How can you say you have a Father-son relationship if there is no “relationship”? I don’t want to stand before God in judgment just so He can say, “I never knew you.” I would hate to go up to my dad today and have him say that to me. It would upset me. It would make me feel as if I really hadn’t been a son to him. And that’s what I feel it’s like with God. If I don’t keep in constant communication with Him, then I lose that relationship.
I came to IBC after having been with my parents for the past 18 years, I say 18 because I am adopted. But for the past 18 years of my life, I’ve been, and am still somewhat, dependent upon my parents. At times, having been here, I have felt alone because of the simple fact that I can’t just run to them and give them a hug when I want to.
You know what helps me though? Knowing that they’re only a phone call away. Sometimes you may feel alone in your walk with God. I have felt that way at times. I’ve felt uncomfortable being where I am in my walk with God, wondering whether not I was doing the right thing or not and feeling God wasn’t supplying me with an answer.
We’re comfortable with receiving an immediate response. It’s what we want in almost everything. We’re in a generation that wants things done yesterday. With God it’s different. Why? Because He NEVER CHANGES! The human race has come so far from what it was hundreds of years ago. At the same time, even with the increase in technology and simultaneously the increase of apathy for anything, we have a wont for things to be done right away and we want it at the click of a button.
God doesn’t work on our time. He works in His time. And His time is always the RIGHT time. David was called to become king, but he didn’t attain that authority until 15 years later. What did he do in the meantime? Sit there and wait to be crowned? NO! He went back to shepherding his flock. He went back to doing his business. Did it bother him to know that he was supposed to be somewhere and he wasn’t there yet? I don’t know. Maybe it did. Or maybe, unlike some of us, including myself, he had enough faith in God to trust that everything would work out according to His time and not his time.
So instead of just going to class during the day and then going back to our dorms and playing video games at night or hanging out with people, perhaps we could set aside a little extra time and give it to God and not be ashamed to say, “Hey guys. I’m going to go pray even though there’s not a prayer meeting called.” Or “I need to be alone so I can read my Bible.”
Why is it so hard for us to do that? Because it’s outside of some of our comfort zones. We’re comfortable with doing just enough to get by and expect everything to work out like we believe it should. If there is a potential, however, for you to be something more than what you set your goals to be, wouldn’t you want to do everything you could to achieve that?
Do we want to remain in a comfortable position, only to fall short of the potential that God sees in us, or do we have enough faith in God to step outside of our comfort zones, allow Him to work on us in a way we couldn’t imagine, and become something, not ordinary, but extraordinary?
Most of you know of Elijah and Elisha.
Just to give you a breakdown of Elijah and Elisha, here are just a few of the miracles they performed:
In 1 Kings 17:1 Elijah told Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” He, through the power God had given him, caused it not to rain until he chose for it to rain.
In verse 14, he performed a miracle for a widow woman who had only a barrel of meal and a cruse of oil. “For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.”
He performed yet another miracle for the widow woman by resurrecting his son in verse 22.
He called fire from Heaven before the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:38.
In verse 45 of the same chapter God used Elijah and he caused it to rain again.
There are many other miracles that Elijah performed that we could dissect and go into detail about, but the fact is that even though Elijah performed many great miracles, Elisha gained a double blessing of that gift from God by simply asking for that blessing.
In 2 Kings 2:9 Elijah says to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee” So Elisha responds boldly, “I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”
In verse 10, Elijah says to Elisha, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.”
Elisha is there to witness Elijah being called up by the chariots of fire and proceeds afterwards to rent his own clothes and then to take up Elijah’s mantle. What’s interesting is that in verse 14, Elisha decides to test his newfound blessing by smiting the waters of the Jordan.
The waters part for Elisha, and when the sons of the prophets see Elisha part the waters in the same manner that Elijah had parted them, they instantly recognize the change. In 2 Kings 2:15, they proclaim, “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”
You see, the people could tell that a change had taken place and Elisha didn’t just hold back on this newfound blessing. He allowed God to start using him immediately following that change in his life.
He parted the waters in verse 14. He healed the spring in verse 21, he cursed the children who mocked him with she bears in verse 24. He filled the valley with water in 2 Kings 3:17. In 2 Kings 4:4 he performed a miracle concerning vessels of oil. You see, Elisha received a double portion because he allowed God to use him to such a degree, he was willing to be used in such a way and wasn’t afraid to be bold in requesting such a blessing.
Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his blessing. Elisha didn’t start following Elijah because he knew what was to come. No. He followed Elijah for years watching him perform the miracles of God. He was a minister, not because he was behind a pulpit, but because he was serving the man whom God told him to serve.
We all know about Elijah and Elisha. But how many of you have heard of Gehazi?
Gehazi was to Elisha as Elisha was to Elijah. He followed him and was under his guidance. He was his apprentice if you will.
You see, Gehazi was greatly blessed in what he had. He seemed to be healthy. He had a great master and home. He was following Elisha after all. That, to me, seems like it would’ve been the best place for spiritual guidance.
If any of you know the story of Naaman, Naaman was a general under the king of Syria and he was stricken with leprosy. He calls upon Elisha to heal him. So Elisha gives him the order to dip in the Jordan seven times. When Naaman is healed, he insists on blessing Elisha with a gift but Elisha refused and simply told him to go in peace.
Gehazi thought that was wrong however. After seeing that Elisha would not take anything from him, Gehazi says in 2 Kings 5:20, “…as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.”
Gehazi runs after Naaman and lies to him, saying “All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.”
Naaman gladly meets his request and actually gives him more than what he requested. When Gehazi returned however, Elisha knew what had taken place. Gehazi was cursed with leprosy from that day forth because he decided to settle for two talents of silver and two changes of clothes.
You know, sometimes it’s not our duty to force the doors of blessing upon ourselves. We shouldn’t seek to receive something because we’ve labored in our ministry. The pulpit ministry isn’t some prize to be sought after and competed for. Elisha very well could’ve received that blessing but I almost see it as a test to Gehazi.
Here’s a man who could’ve received thrice the blessing of Elisha had he pushed to minister to him, to serve him as God had desired, but he gave it all away because he was comfortable with settling for less. You see, we could do just enough to get by and maybe someday become ministers and do all of these great things, but if God desired for you to go above and beyond what you see in your own future, would you not want to push for that greater blessing?
My question to you today would be this: are you going to settle for two talents of silver and two changes of clothes? Or are you going to take a step of faith in God, and take on the harder work load to push for something greater? Will you be the ordinary? Or the extraordinary? Will you be a Gehazi? Or will you be an Elisha?
I don’t want to see our generation as a Gehazi generation! I’m not comfortable with just doing what I’m doing. I want to do more for the kingdom of God. Why? Because HE is worth it! Not because it means some sort of position. Not because it means getting behind a pulpit, but because whatever God desires for me to do, I want to do it. It’s God’s kingdom not my own.
IBC isn’t it! Our ministries aren’t set in stone when we leave here. Bro. Zenobia was talking to us on the book trip the other day and he caught my attention with something I’ve only begun to realize recently. Ministry is hard work. It’s not just a pulpit or preaching out or being a class president or becoming the next great evangelist. It’s more than the titles ladies and gentlemen.
This isn’t a feel good message. If you wanted that, you probably shouldn’t have listened to anything I said. But I say this because I feel that we have the potential to become something more. You matter too much to me, you matter too much to this staff, you matter way too much to God to settle for less than what you could be in Him. He’s made a great investment in each and every one of us. Let’s strive to make further investments in Him.
