ILLUSTRATION- I remember visiting with my
grandfather when I was a little boy.
One day I asked him how we was doing, and he responded by telling me
that he was worser.
I had no idea
what that meant then, but looking back now; I think he was telling me that life
just wasn’t doing it for him that particular day.
Sometimes life
can be like that. We can be well on our way to living the Greater life that God
has called us to; we’ve burnt the plows- said good bye to the things that hold
us back from following Jesus.
We’ve even
rolled up our sleeves and begun to dig ditches.
But then
something happens… something that we didn’t see coming hits us right between
the eyes.
Sometimes as we’re living the
greater life, it will feel like the worser life. It will feel like we’re
in this thing all alone.
Let’s look at
another example in the life of Elisha for some context.
In 2 Kings 4,
Elisha becomes friends with a “well do to woman” (2
Kings 4:8, NIV) who lived in a town called Shunem, which is a small town
located in Israel.
Whenever Elisha
was in town, he was invited into her home where she would bless him with a warm
meal and a fresh lemon pie.
One day this
woman was talking with her husband and she told him that she believed Elisha
was a “holy man
of God” (2 Kings 4:9, NLT2), and she
would like for him to stay with them whenever he was in town.
So her husband
heads down to Israel Depot and picks up a hammer and some nails, a scroll saw,
a table saw and some lumber and he builds a prophet suite on the upper level of
their house.
On one
particular evening when Elisha is resting, he asked his servant, a man by the
name of Gehazi, to have the woman come to his room as he wanted to thank her
for showing them such wonderful hospitality.
She kindly
thanks Elisha for thinking of her, but declines his offer telling him that her
family is looking after her.
Shortly after
this, Elisha is talking with his servant and they figure out exactly what this
woman needs: she needs a baby!
(Leave it to a man to figure out what a woman
wants)
So they call her
back and tell her the good news: “About this time next year...you will hold a son in your
arms.” (2 Kings 4:16, NLT2)
Instead of
rejoicing at this news, she strongly objects: “No, my lord!”… “Please, man of God, don’t
mislead your servant.” (2 Kings 4:16, NLT2)
I.O.W. don’t
lead me on Elisha…
But sure enough,
about the same time the following year, she is holding Jr. in her arms.
Life at that
moment for this woman was great.er. She had a husband, a great house, and now a
healthy baby boy.
Quite some time
passes by and Jr. is out working in a field with his father when he complains
of a headache.
His father does
what fathers do best: he took him to his mother who put him on her lap to rest.
Instead of getting better, the boy actually dies.
The woman takes
her dead son and places him in Elisha’s room and shuts the door and leaves.
She tells her
husband that she’s going to find Elisha and summons a servant and a donkey and
she sets out to find the man of God.
We’ll pick up
our story in verse 25 of 2 Kings 4: “…she…came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When he saw her in
the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the
Shunammite!
26 Run to meet her
and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all
right?’”
“Everything is all
right,” she said.
27 When she reached
the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to
push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter
distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”
28 “Did I ask you
for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
29 Elisha said to
Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run.
Don’t greet anyone
you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s
face.”
30 But the child’s mother
said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So
he got up and followed her.
31 Gehazi went on
ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response.
So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
(2 Kings 4:25-31, NLT2)
This woman
reminded Elisha that she hadn’t asked for a son, she was fine as she was, but
now that he was dead, she would not accept anything less than the person who
got her into this mess, to get her out of this mess.
So as Elisha and
this woman make their way to her home, Elisha’s servant comes out to meet them
and told them that the boy was still dead.
Sometimes as we’re living the
greater life God has for us, things will often get worser.
Sometimes as we’re living the
greater life God has for us, we will have to endure some painful situations.
ILLUSTRATION- Dealing with my father’s
illness and subsequent death was one of the hardest periods of my life.
There
wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t pray to God asking him to heal my
father. Instead of my dad getting better, he actually got worse.
Four
months after the doctor told us of Dad’s brain tumor, he was dead.
I
remember sitting in the car with my family as we’re going through the funeral
and all that goes along with it, when my daughter, Erica asked: “Why did Grampie have to die when I’m only 6?”
What
do you do with that?
How
could a good God allow this to happen to my family? Didn’t we love Him enough?
Didn’t we serve Him?
I
don’t know if I have an adequate answer or not, but I do know this: Sometimes on the path to God’s
greater life bad things happen.
Jesus
told us as much. “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33, NIV)
How’s
that for a promise from God!?
In this world
you will get kicked in the teeth by well-meaning people.
In
this world parents will have to bury their children
In
this word your spouse will get cancer and die.
In
this world bad things will happen to you.
“In this world you
will have trouble.” (John 16:33, NIV)
but Jesus doesn’t stop there.
The very next
sentence says: “But
take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33, NIV)
Yes,
the bottom will fall out of your life;
Yes
stuff will happen to you as you seek to live for Jesus.
But
Jesus has overcome the world.
In
what is our key verse for this series, we are told that: “the one who is in you is greater than the one
who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4, NIV)
When we’re going through the
hard times of life, we must remember that God has the final say.
ILLUSTRATION- Darren MacPhee and I love to
talk about sports. I’ll tell him why baseball is the superior sport and he’ll
try to tell me that football is much better.
One
way that football differs from baseball is, in football, a flag is thrown on
the field to challenge a play.
When
a flag is thrown, someone is telling the referee that something just happened
that they didn’t like and they wish to challenge the play.
This is when the referees go watch the video replay to see what just
happened.
Sometimes
the video replay confirms the call the referees made and nothing happens.
But
other times the video replay will tell the referees that they got the call wrong.
When
this happens, the referee will turn on his microphone and say: “Upon further review…”
At
that moment things begin to change, the original ruling is overturned in favor
of awarding the correct outcome of the play.
We
would do well to remember that God sees and knows all things and He is able to take our weakest, most heart-breaking
moments and turn them into something greater.
Paul
said it best in his letter to the Romans. In chapter 8 verse 28 he said: “And we know that
in all things God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)
In
all things God works for the good:
When
you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired--- IN all things
When
you feel like you can’t go on… in all things
When
you feel like the whole world is against you...In all things.
Whatever
you might be going through today, I want to remind you that God wants to do
something greater in your life.
Even
if your life is worser; even if you get bad news; even if you don’t like how
things are going, God will review the play and make the right call. Always.
Let’s
go back and see how our story ends.
“When Elisha
reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.
33 He went in, shut
the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.
34
Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands
to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm.
35 Elisha turned
away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and
stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his
eyes.” (2 Kings 4:32-35, NLT2)
When all hope
seemed lost for this woman, God showed up and did something greater in her
life: He brought her son back to life.
I want you to
know dear friend, that God sees your situation and even in your pain and
trouble, God wants
do something greater in your life.
Ø He
wants to restore your broken relationship
Ø He
wants to supply all your needs
Ø He
wants to forgive you and make you whole.
Isaiah wrote in
chapter 40:
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of
the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can
fathom.
29 He gives
strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow
tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the
Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on
wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31, NLT2)
Who among us is
just about to give in?
Who among us is
just about to give up?
Who among us
needs to allow the Lord to speak into their life and use their current
situation for His honour and glory?
I want to
encourage you, friend, that no matter how dark your world might appear, God is
reviewing the play and He wants to do something greater in your life.
Don’t give up!
Put your trust in God: “because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is
in the world.” (1 John 4:4, NIV)
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