2
kings 8 reminds me of how insignificant some events that we stress
and fuss over really are in the big picture. At the same time, we
barely notice moments that turn out to be profoundly important once
we look back with time’s perspective. The Bible teaches that we
certainly have free will to choose, but I believe we also have some
God ordained appointments along the way. The chapter begins with the
Prophet Elisha warning “the
woman whose son he had restored to life”
(mentioned in 2 Kings chapter 4). He warned her to, “Go
away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because
the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven
years.”
And we read, “She
and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines
seven years“.
She believed the promise and acted on it by faith. It seems so easy
when you read about someone else, but remember, she had a whole
lifetime of obediently trusting God’s promises. What about those
of us that do not have that lifetime of trust? Jeremiah 29:12-14
says to you and me, “Then
you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to
you. And you will seek Me and find Me,
when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,
says the Lord“.
When
the famine was over, the woman “went
to the king to beg for her house and land“.
But before she arrived, there was another God ordained meeting.
Elisha’s servant had been telling the kings about the miracles God
worked through Elisha. Just as she arrived the servant said, “This
is the woman… and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life“.
The king granted her request and insisted on even more, “Give
back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from
her land from the day she left the country until now.”
Don’t
miss the fact that she had to make her request of the king. Why do
you hesitate to ask? In Luke 11:9-10 Jesus promises, “So
I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will
find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be
opened“.
The
chapter also describes another “chance meeting” with different
results. We read, “Ben-Hadad
king of Aram was ill“.
He sent his trusted servant to inquire of the prophet Elisha. The
king said to Hazael, “Go
to meet the man of God. Consult the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will
I recover from this illness?’
“. Elisha gave the servant an odd answer, “Go
and say to him,
‘You
will certainly recover’; but the Lord has revealed to me that he will
in fact die.”
God revealed the servant’s secret plan to murder the king. “Then
the man of God began to weep“.
He explained the reason for his tears; “Because
I know the harm you will do to the Israelites“.
Elisha stared at him “until
Hazael felt ashamed“.
He had the opportunity to turn from his plan, but we read, “But
the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it
over the king’s face, so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as
king“.
1 John 1:9
tells us,
“If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness“.
What will you do with today’s “chance encounter” with God’s
Word?