"When Elisha was in his last illness, King Jehoash of Israel visited him and wept over him. “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” he cried.
Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” And the king did as he was told. Elisha told him, “Put your hand on the bow,” and Elisha laid his own hands on the king’s hands.
Then he commanded, “Open that eastern window,” and he opened it. Then he said, “Shoot!” So he shot an arrow. Elisha proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s arrow, an arrow of victory over Aram, for you will completely conquer the Arameans at Aphek.”
Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.” 2 Kings 13:14-19 NLT
Elisha the prophet was about to die. The king of Israel came to him in need. The Arameans had taken cities from Israel. Elisha tells the king that the Lord would give him victory and restore the cities to Israel. Then he told the king as an act of faith, to strike the ground, symbolic of the victory the Lord would give him. The king strikes the ground three times. Pretty good right? Wrong. The prophet is angry with the king's lack of trust in God.
I wonder how many times we act like the the king. We say we believe in Jesus, but we set limits on His power. Jesus was amazed at the people's lack of faith in one of the cities He was in. Scripture says He could only heal a few people. We put limits on God. We doubt, fear, pursue common sense, and other things. We limit our receiving and experiencing all that God wants to bless us with.
What limits are you putting on Christ? Let me give you some pastoral advice; "Knock it off!" He is the one that can do immeasurably more than we can ever hope or imagine.
No comments:
Post a Comment