I wrote after the debate that God is in control. These days, in the United States, to change rulers, God has to control an election. All those millions of votes! In the old days, it was a bit easier. To get rid of a king and his family, you just had to anoint someone from a different family:

One day Elisha the prophet ordered a member of the guild of prophets, “Get yourself ready, take a flask of oil, and go to Ramoth Gilead. Look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. When you find him, get him away from his companions and take him to a back room. Take your flask of oil and pour it over his head and say, ‘GOD’s word: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and get out of there as fast as you can. Don’t wait around.”

The young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. On arrival he found the army officers all sitting around. He said, “I have a matter of business with you, officer.” Jehu said, “Which one of us?” “With you, officer.” He got up and went inside the building. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “GOD’s word, the God of Israel: I’ve anointed you to be king over the people of GOD, over Israel. Your assignment is to attack the regime of Ahab your master. I am avenging the massacre of my servants the prophets—yes, the Jezebel-massacre of all the prophets of GOD. The entire line of Ahab is doomed. I’m wiping out the entire bunch of that sad lot. I’ll see to it that the family of Ahab experiences the same fate as the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah. As for Jezebel, the dogs will eat her carcass in the open fields of Jezreel. No burial for her!” Then he opened the door and made a run for it. (2 Kings 9.1 – 10, MSG)

And Jehu gets after it:

Then Jehu mounted a chariot and rode to Jezreel, where Joram was in bed, resting. King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit Joram. A sentry standing duty on the watchtower in Jezreel saw the company of Jehu arrive. He said, “I see a band of men.” Joram said, “Get a horseman and send him out to meet them and inquire, ‘Is anything wrong?'” …The sentry said, “The messenger reached them, but he’s not returning.” The king then sent a second horseman….The sentry said, “The messenger reached them, but he’s not returning. The driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi—crazy!” (2 Kings 9.16 – 20, MSG)

King Joram of Israel goes out to meet Jehu, realizes Jehu means to kill him, and attempts to flee:

Jehu pulled on his bow and released an arrow; it hit Joram between the shoulder blades and went right through his heart. He slumped to his knees in his chariot. (2 Kings 9.24, MSG)

Ahaziah, king of Judah, was visiting Joram, and Jehu had him killed, too. That’s material for the next story. Meanwhile, Jezebel, wife of Ahab is still around, but not for long:

When Jezebel heard that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel, she made herself up—put on eyeshadow and arranged her hair—and posed seductively at the window. When Jehu came through the city gate, she called down, “So, how are things, ‘Zimri,’ you dashing king-killer?” Jehu looked up at the window and called, “Is there anybody up there on my side?” Two or three palace eunuchs looked out. He ordered, “Throw her down!” They threw her out the window. Her blood spattered the wall and the horses, and Jehu trampled her under his horse’s hooves. Then Jehu went inside and ate his lunch. (2 Kings 9.30 – 34, MSG)

During lunch(?!) Jehu orders Jezebel buried, but they can’t find her per the word of Elijah:

They went out to bury her, but there was nothing left of her but skull, feet, and hands. They came back and told Jehu. He said, “It’s GOD’s word, the word spoken by Elijah the Tishbite: In the field of Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel; The body of Jezebel will be like dog-droppings on the ground in Jezreel. Old friends and lovers will say, ‘I wonder, is this Jezebel?'” (2 Kings 9.35 – 37, MSG)

Nasty stuff, and in 2 Kings 10, Jehu kills all 70 of Ahab’s sons and all the remaining prophets of Baal. Mercy! Among other things, it’s a picture of being a bit more ruthless with our own sin than we are used to:

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8.13, ESV)

When I wrote about Naaman in 2 Kings 5, I focused on Humility and Flexibility, just mentioning the oft-used salvation by faith allegory.

Today, we’re in the story that starts at 2 Kings 6.24, continuing through chapter 7:

At a later time, this: Ben-Hadad king of Aram pulled together his troops and launched a siege on Samaria. This brought on a terrible famine, so bad that food prices soared astronomically. Eighty shekels for a donkey’s head! Five shekels for a bowl of field greens! (2 Kings 6.24, 25, MSG)

It’s a good story in its own right, but the application to evangelism or “witnessing” is unmistakable.

There’s a siege and a famine, and it’s ugly. (See 2 Kings 6.24 – 31)The king of Israel blames Elisha(?!) who proclaims boldly:

Elisha said, “Listen! GOD’s word! The famine’s over. This time tomorrow food will be plentiful—a handful of meal for a shekel; two handfuls of grain for a shekel. The market at the city gate will be buzzing.” (2 Kings 7.1, MSG)

How will such a thing happen? Answer: through four lepers who have nothing to lose.

It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.” (2 Kings 7.3, 4, MSG)

They go to the camp of Aram and find it deserted.

The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, “The king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!” Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeys—the whole camp just as it was—running for dear life. (2 Kings 7.6, 7, MSG)

The lepers raid the camp, eating, drinking, and hiding looted gold and silver…until they come to their senses:

Finally they said to one another, “We shouldn’t be doing this! This is a day of good news and we’re making it into a private party! If we wait around until morning we’ll get caught and punished. Come on! Let’s go tell the news to the king’s palace!” (2 Kings 7.9, MSG)

Isn’t that a great picture of our call to spread the word? “This is a day of good news and we’re making into a private party…Come on! Let’s go tell…” It’s been said that sharing the gospel is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.

Forced to leave home base, the Christians all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. (Acts 8.4, MSG)

Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all. (Mark 16.15, MSG)

PS Elisha’s prophecy comes true to the letter down to the part I didn’t share that the king’s assistant who doubted would see it but not eat it. Read the whole story in 2 Kings 7.

Back to the adventures of Elisha, 2 Kings 6 opens with another quick miracle. The “guild of prophets” needed a bigger building, and while one of them was cutting down a tree…

As one of them was felling a timber, his axhead flew off and sank in the river. “Oh no, master!” he cried out. “And it was borrowed!” The Holy Man said, “Where did it sink?” The man showed him the place. He cut off a branch and tossed it at the spot. The axhead floated up. (2 Kings 6.5, 6, MSG)

God is real. God is here.

Then Elisha has a “word of knowledge” about the plans of the king of Aram. Every time he planned an ambush, Elisha would send a message to the king of Israel. “This kind of thing happened all the time.” (verse 10)

The king of Aram was furious over all this. He called his officers together and said, “Tell me, who is leaking information to the king of Israel? Who is the spy in our ranks?” But one of his men said, “No, my master, dear king. It’s not any of us. It’s Elisha the prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel everything you say, even what you whisper in your bedroom.” (2 Kings 6.11, 12, MSG)

So the king sends horses and chariots to surround Dothan, where Elisha is. But no problem…

Early in the morning a servant of the Holy Man got up and went out. Surprise! Horses and chariots surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?” He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.” Then Elisha prayed, “O GOD, open his eyes and let him see.” The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha! (2 Kings 6.15 – 17, MSG)

The apostle John wrote:

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4.4, ESV)

We don’t know why God doesn’t always deliver his people from harm (for example, the young couple who was recently killed in Haiti), but know it’s not because he can’t.

Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26.50 – 53, ESV)

I’m pleased to report that on July 4 I finished a giant Lego project – a model of the Cathedral of Notre Dame! I started on Tuesday, June 18, so it took just over two weeks and just under the 20 hours I had predicted.

All the observations I made in my Lessons from Legos blog of June 23 apply. Here are some additional lessons learning:

• The first thing they give you is a tool to correct mistakes. I won’t need that, will I? I’m going to be very careful. Yep, I needed it. 1 John 1.8 – 10.

• It was hard to get away from the image Paul laid out in Ephesians 2:

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2.21 – 22, NIV)

• “Rises to become a holy temple.” The Cathedral didn’t get built all at once. The real one started with the east side so that they could hold services there while the rest of it was being built. That first stage was constructed from 1163 to 1182. I reached that stage after bag 9 of 34 bags.

• We are being built together to become a dwelling… And we’re not finished yet!
• 1 Corinthians 12 enters in as well. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many…” Some parts are larger and will be seen in the finished product. Some are small. EVERY part has a specific function, and if it’s not there, the building might not even get built.
• Therefore, I have new appreciation for the parable of the lost sheep. You have 99 sheep left! Why go after the one? I’ll never forget the first time I dropped a piece. It’s amazing how far and in which unpredictable direction the pieces bounce! I pulled out my phone’s flashlight and searched until I found it. But you have 4,382 other pieces! Do you have to find that one? Yes. Absolutely.
• I am impressed with Lego’s quality control. EVERY part is perfect. Tolerances are perfect. Every part fits exactly the way it is supposed to. The part doesn’t have a say in its design nor where it is placed. Legos decided that.
• Every believer is perfectly designed:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

• A perfectly built Legos piece in the wrong place won’t advance the mission of building the cathedral. I wonder how much better the Kingdom would advance if we all listened to the direction of the Lord of the Church and served in the roles we were designed for. For example, many dedicated believers think the ultimate service is in full-time, paid Christian employment. I address this fallacy in my book The Disciple’s Work. Also, many gifted and called people are counseled to go into pastoral ministry when they might be better suited for a pioneering or specialized ministry outside the local church. Sam Metcalf speaks to this issue eloquently in his book, Beyond the Local Church: How Apostolic Movements Can Change the World.
• I had to trust the process. I didn’t have to know what was going to happen two steps away, and I intentionally did not look ahead. “A long obedience in the same direction.” And I intentionally didn’t rush. “Things take as long as they take.”

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30.21, ESV)

A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul. (Proverbs 13.19, NKJV)

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! (2 Chronicles 6.18, NKJV)

Photo by Mark Ewell: the cathedral with the instruction book. Over my left shoulder you can see the Willie Mays jersey I mentioned on June 19.

About a month ago, I wrote about Navigator Heidi Gleghorn, and her heart for the poor. If you missed it, it’s worth the read. Right after I published that blog, her husband, Rob, wrote a touching tribute, Married to a Modern-Day Mother Theresa.

Rob and Heidi Gleghorn

The article tells their whole story, but I want to highlight the parts about her ministry to the poor – nothing glamorous about it. (I:58, from Isaiah 58.10, 11, is The Navigators’ ministry to the poor.) Her husband writes:

In the last few years, Heidi finally found her God-given niche within I:58 and has coined a new idea she is calling, “Helping Oppressed People Everywhere (HOPE).” As she is fond of saying, “Everyone is worthy because everyone has worth, even the least of these.” Heidi has no problem literally scrubbing the lice off homeless people, caring for those with severe frostbite, holding the hands of those about to pass, or hauling all the urine-stained bedding to washing machines. She doesn’t just talk about compassion, and she doesn’t just memorize verses on mercy. She actually does dirty work. And I mean really dirty.

Heidi cares for a homeless person suffering from frostbite.

Heidi has been working in Colorado Springs with the homeless for the last five years now. She volunteers at The Sanctuary Church in Old Colorado City serving hot meals, running showers, giving out clothing, distributing food from their pantry, and taking random calls for help at the front desk. She has also worked at the Springs Rescue Mission as a volunteer to bring art into the program. Heidi also helps with Hope COS, volunteering at the warming shelters during freezing storms to help over 400 people simply stay alive. In addition, she started going down to several of the local parks, bringing food and warmth to even more people in need. Wears me out just writing about it! Recently, Heidi has begun to introduce college students from differing states to opportunities to love and serve our under-resourced population in a practical, hands-on way. As a result, she is currently building an I:58 team in Colorado Springs under the HOPE banner.

“She doesn’t just talk about compassion, and she doesn’t just memorize verses on mercy. She actually does dirty work.” It’s a worthy ministry, and if you have margin in your missions budget, you might consider supporting Heidi’s ministry. I do.

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25.34 – 40, ESV)

Yesterday we looked at Naaman’s lesson in humility. Today, we look at something very important for us. Look how Naaman’s last conversation with Elisha plays out:

“If you won’t take anything,” said Naaman, “let me ask you for something: Give me a load of dirt, as much as a team of donkeys can carry, because I’m never again going to worship any god other than GOD. But there’s one thing for which I need GOD’s pardon: When my master, leaning on my arm, enters the shrine of Rimmon and worships there, and I’m with him there, worshiping Rimmon, may you see to it that GOD forgive me for this.” Elisha said, “Everything will be all right. Go in peace.” (2 Kings 5.17 – 19, MSG)

First, Naaman has had a true conversion experience. And if he can’t come to Israel to worship the true God, he wants to take Israel with him (in the form of a load of dirt) so he can worship God back home.

Second, he anticipates that he will have to accompany his master, the king, when the king goes to the shrine of the local god Rimmon. Will that be ok? Elisha’s reply, “Everything will be all right. Go in peace.”

Really? What happened to “No other gods before me”? Or, “You need to take a stand. You can’t go into that heathen temple.” Or, “You don’t want to violate your purity and affirm a lie!”

It appears that God is more flexible than we are.

For example, well-known pastor and radio preacher Alistair Begg, whom I have quoted before, took a lot of heat for counseling a believing grandmother to attend her grandson’s wedding to a trans-gender person. Here’s the transcript of exactly what he said:

I asked the grandmother, “Does your grandson understand your belief in Jesus?”

“Yes.” “Does your grandson understand that your belief in Jesus makes it such that you can’t countenance in any affirming way the choices that he has made in life?”

“Yes.”

I said, “Well then, okay. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you do go to the ceremony. And I suggest that you buy them a gift.”

“Oh,” she said, “what?” She was caught off guard.

I said, “Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’” – Alistair Begg, quoted by Justin Peters

I’m with Alistair on this one, and I think Elisha would have been, too. But in the spirit of flexibility, I’m not dictating what must be done in such situations. I’m just suggesting we prayerfully consider what love would have us do.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace AND truth. (John 1.14, ESV, emphasis mine, we tend to be full of grace OR truth)

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. (Mark 3.1 – 4, ESV)

We come to 2 Kings 5, which contains the well-known story of the healing of Naaman:

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. (2 Kings 5.1, ESV)

A great man, in high favor…BUT he was a leper. I’m reading The Message this year, and it uses “skin disease” and calls the country Aram. The story is often used as a metaphor for cleansing from sin – I can’t tell you how many sermons I’ve heard on that – but let’s just see what the obvious lessons are.

The first is a perfect example of “Be there, pay attention, do what you can, tell the truth,” which is the theme of my book Join the Adventure!

It so happened that Aram, on one of its raiding expeditions against Israel, captured a young girl who became a maid to Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, “Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease.” (2 Kings 5.2, 3, MSG)

If a captured slave girl can “be there, pay attention,…” we all can.

But the real story of Naaman’s healing is a lesson in humility. Note how it sets up in verse 1: commander…great man…in high favor with his king. And so he goes to the king, an odd action since the little girl said “prophet in Samaria.” The king sends Naaman to his counterpart, the king of Israel.

Naaman went straight to his master and reported what the girl from Israel had said. “Well then, go,” said the king of Aram. “And I’ll send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel.” So he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothes. Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, “When you get this letter, you’ll know that I’ve personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease.” (2 Kings 5.4 – 6, MSG)

The king of Israel was greatly distressed. “How am I going to heal this guy?” Elisha steps in:

Elisha the man of God heard what had happened, that the king of Israel was so distressed that he’d ripped his robe to shreds. He sent word to the king, “Why are you so upset, ripping your robe like this? Send him to me so he’ll learn that there’s a prophet in Israel.” (2 Kings 5.8, MSG)

“We’ll handle this king to king…at the highest level. After all, you’re a great man.” Elisha won’t play the game:

Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be as good as new.” (2 Kings 5.10, MSG)

You have to love it: “Elisha sent out a servant…” Then Naaman has a bad case of “But I thought.“

Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, “I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of GOD, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. (2 Kings 5.11, MSG)

His servants talk sense into him, and he is healed. (2 Kings 5.11 – 14) Another example of Elisha’s miracles involving some action – the action is superfluous to the miracle: he could have waved his hand over the spot – but in this case, it’s a lesson in humility and following directions.

And there’s one more lesson, but it’s too important to rush through. Stay tuned.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. (Psalm 25.9, ESV)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3.12, NIV)

It’s still a great country even with its serious issues (no matter what your perspective!). Give thanks. Pray. Live well.

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. (1 Thessalonians 5.16 – 18, MSG)

Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night… (Philippians 2.14, 15, MSG)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. (1 Timothy 2.1 – 3, 8, MSG)

I told you this section of 2 Kings is miracle-dense. After the story of the oil and the jugs, we have the story of the lady from Shunem and her husband. They built a guest room for Elisha to use when he passed through. (See 2 Kings 4.8 – 11) In return, Elisha promises her a son:

Elisha conferred with [Elisha’s servant] Gehazi: “There’s got to be something we can do for her. But what?” Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man.” “Call her in,” said Elisha. He called her and she stood at the open door. Elisha said to her, “This time next year you’re going to be nursing an infant son.” “O my master, O Holy Man,” she said, “don’t play games with me, teasing me with such fantasies!” The woman conceived. A year later, just as Elisha had said, she had a son. (2 Kings 4.14 – 17, MSG)

But the child died, maybe as a young teenager. So she goes to fetch Elisha who sends Gehazi ahead to “lay the staff across the boys face” without success. (See 2 Kings 4.18 – 31) Then Elisha arrives:

Elisha entered the house and found the boy stretched out on the bed dead. He went into the room and locked the door—just the two of them in the room—and prayed to GOD. He then got into bed with the boy and covered him with his body, mouth on mouth, eyes on eyes, hands on hands. As he was stretched out over him like that, the boy’s body became warm. Elisha got up and paced back and forth in the room. Then he went back and stretched himself upon the boy again. The boy started sneezing—seven times he sneezed!—and opened his eyes. (2 Kings 4.32 – 35, MSG)

As always with Elisha, pray…and do something. In this case, he stretched himself out on the boy.

These stories are told with remarkable reserve. No drum rolls, just “this is what happened.” And just to round out the chapter, two more. In the first, they cooked up a stew for the guild of prophets, but a poisonous plant got into it:

They started to eat, and then exclaimed, “Death in the pot, O man of God! Death in the pot!” Nobody could eat it. Elisha ordered, “Get me some meal.” Then he sprinkled it into the stew pot. “Now serve it up to the men,” he said. They ate it, and it was just fine—nothing wrong with that stew! (2 Kings 4.40 – 41, MSG)

In the second we have a multiplication of loaves similar to what Jesus will do on a larger scale:

One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard. Elisha said, “Pass it around to the people to eat.” His servant said, “For a hundred men? There’s not nearly enough!” Elisha said, “Just go ahead and do it. GOD says there’s plenty.” And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had—they not only ate, but had leftovers. (2 Kings 4.42 – 44, MSG)

All these miracles! Signs? An attempt to get the attention of the Northern Kingdom? Remember, that’s where Elijah and Elisha ministered, to “Israel,” where all the kings were bad. Not to Judah. And the miracles weren’t for show; God, through Elisha, just met the need at the time.

Need wisdom?

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. (James 1.5, 6, MSG)

Worried?

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4.6, 7, MSG)

So Jesus taught them this prayer: “Our heavenly Father, may the glory of your name be the center on which our life turns. May your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us. Manifest your kingdom on earth. And give us our needed bread for the coming day. Forgive our sins as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. And rescue us every time we face tribulations.” (Luke 11.2 – 4, TPT)

“If you’re praying for rain, bring an umbrella.” – Old Saying

I wrote yesterday that we’re going to be seeing a lot of miracles in the ministry of Elisha. Many of them involve some kind of action as in hit the Jordan River with your cloak, and it divides. After that he purifies water by sprinkling salt into it (See 2 Kings 2.19 – 21).

Then we have two miracles that reinforce the same lesson: act first; act as if. Recall that when the people crossed the Jordan to go into the Promised Land, the flow stopped AFTER the priests stepped into the river.

In 2 Kings 3, the kings of Israel and Judah decide to attack Moab, but they find themselves stuck in the desert with no water. The kings call for Elisha, who’s not impressed with the evil king of Israel:

Elisha said, “As GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I stand ready to serve, if it weren’t for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I wouldn’t give you the time of day. But considering—bring me a minstrel.” (When a minstrel played, the power of GOD came on Elisha.) He then said, “GOD’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for GOD to do; he will also hand over Moab to you.” (2 Kings 3.14 – 18, MSG)

And that’s what happened. The army digs the ditches first. The ditches miraculously fill with water which refreshes the army. But the water looks like blood to the Moabites so they assume the kings have attacked each other. They charge into the camp seeking plunder and get routed. (See 2 Kings 3.20- 27)

This event is followed in the next chapter by a story with the same lesson:

One day the wife of a man from the guild of prophets called out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead. You well know what a good man he was, devoted to GOD. And now the man to whom he was in debt is on his way to collect by taking my two children as slaves.” Elisha said, “I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Nothing,” she said. “Well, I do have a little oil.” “Here’s what you do,” said Elisha. “Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from all your neighbors. And not just a few—all you can get. Then come home and lock the door behind you, you and your sons. Pour oil into each container; when each is full, set it aside.” She did what he said. She locked the door behind her and her sons; as they brought the containers to her, she filled them. When all the jugs and bowls were full, she said to one of her sons, “Another jug, please.” He said, “That’s it. There are no more jugs.” Then the oil stopped. She went and told the story to the man of God. He said, “Go sell the oil and make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons, on what’s left.” (2 Kings 4.1 – 7, MSG)

Gather the jugs first, then the oil will flow.

Dig the ditches first, then the water will flow.

Here’s a trivial example, ongoing. Our dog passed in December 2022. Since then, we have been praying that God would send us the dog of his choice when the time is right. We still have newspaper delivery (wonder how long that will last?!), and we use the plastic bags for dog poop. I’ve continued to save the bags so we’ll have a good supply!

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11.24, ESV)