miracles

2 Kings 6 – Your Insecurity or His Sovereignty?

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If you go to garage sales, you know the scene…

  • A variety of clothes hung on a clothesline between two trees.
  • A folding table with random and miscellaneous stuff.
  • Boxes filled with unrelated items.

In short…the organized disorganization of personal items for all to see.

At first, this was how I viewed 2 Kings chapter 6. It looked like several accounts stuck together as randomly as garage sale items…

  • An ax head comes off the ax handle, flies into the river, and is thought to be lost.
  • The user tells Elisha that the ax was borrowed, and Elisha causes the ax head to float up from the bottom of the river, so it can be retrieved.
  • The Syrian army attacks Elisha, but God reveals their movement to Elisha in advance.
  • God shows Elisha’s servant that the Syrian army is greatly outnumbered by God’s forces.
  • God causes the Syrians to not recognize Elisha, and Elisha leads them right into Israel’s hands.
  • Then Elisha says to feed the enemy army and let them go.
  • Due to a blockade by the Syrians, the economy in Israel becomes so bad, that people are literally cooking and eating their own children.
  • The king of Israel blames Elisha for all of this and sends people to seize him and put him to death.
  • Knowing they’ve come to get him, Elisha tells them that by morning there will be plenty of food.

These are great stories, but they seem randomly stuck together. Yet, if you look closely, you will find a common theme. God’s sovereignty! Sovereignty over the physical world, the political world, the international world, and the economic world.

It’s a reminder to us that there’s not an aspect of our lives that God is not completely sovereign over. That’s not to say that things will always work out the way we want, but we don’t have to worry about the end result, for God is sovereign over everything…all the time!

Is your life marked by insecurity over uncertainty or confidence over His sovereignty?

2 Kings 4 – Use Your Superpowers

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If you had superpowers, what would you do? Most of us would say something like, “help others.” But wouldn’t it be tempting to use your power to do a little grand-standing? And how would you know if you were really using your power to help others or to draw attention to yourself?

Elisha

In 2 Kings chapter 4, Elisha is doing one miracle after another. And because of the way these events are narrated, it appears that Elisha is showing off. But if you look at the chapter carefully, you find that…

  • Elisha’s interest is always focused on caring for the needs of others.
  • The miracles are often done either behind closed doors (2 Kings 4:4, 33) or in the company of the prophets (2 Kings 4:38-44.) The miracles are not to impress the general public.
  • Elisha acknowledges that he is submissive to the real miracle worker…God. (2 Kings 4:27, 43.)

Us

All of us are like Elisha. We may not be able to do dramatic miracles, but God has given us many other things we could use to benefit others. Things like our:

  • Time.
  • Talent.
  • Resources.
  • Experience.
  • Fruit of the Spirit.
  • Etc.

Though more subtle than Elisha’s miracles, we can take what God has given us and produce one miracle after another in other’s lives.

Are you doing that, or are you taking what God has given you and using it for your own benefit? Are you doing what you do for others behind closed doors, so as to not draw attention to yourself? Do you readily acknowledge that what you have is a gift from God to be gifted to others?

We do have superpowers as believers. Jesus even said that we would do even greater things than He did. (John 14:12) The Spirit that empowered Elisha and raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us as believers.

So, how will you use your superpower?