The Adult's Sunday School Class - Proverbs 22:26-29 Wisdom
in work - wisdom in debt.
Scripture
reading: #673
Sunday
evening Vesper's at
Wednesday @
Be bold, take seconds, make a way
II Kings 2.5 The company of the
prophets at
6. Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the
LORD has sent me to the
7. Fifty men of the company of the prophets went
and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped
at the
8. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and
struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and
the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha,
"Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken
from you?" "Let me inherit a
double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10. "You have asked a difficult thing,"
Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be
yours--otherwise not."
11. As they were walking along and talking
together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated
the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My
father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of
13. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from
Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the
14. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from
him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of
Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and
to the left, and he crossed over.
What's your approach to life
- slow, fast, finesse, leverage, raw power...? Elisha's approach was forceful, using decisive and
powerful moves to establish his position - and he wanted twice as much!
This
isn't a pattern for everyone. God also uses subtle beauty such as Esther;
shrewd and coy such as Abigail; smart and political such as Daniel; teary and victimized
such as Jeremiah; or even intellectual and overwhelmingly self-confident such
as the Apostle Paul.
Basically, all this to say that God can use any personality type
- if individuals in the Bible can be used as any predictor of what God might do
with us today.
I do understand the Elijah's
and Elisha's of the world. They are frequently compared with a
'bull in a china shop.' They really don't make good pastors.
In
fact, polite and poised people tend to feel rather uncomfortable around 'them' because
'they' are difficult to make into silk purses.
But
if you need something done or some situation moved off of dead center...call for one of 'them.'
An 'Elisha' won't show up with
a kidskin attaché and a strategic plan...he'll show up with a
bull-dozer and a box of dynamite. But he will get things done!
He
doesn't tend to coddle people and nurture the sensitive side of folks - he'll probably be caustic and
impatient.
He
will be the ecclesiastical version of that sit-com guy on television who believed
everything was better with 'more power.'
What
is it with an 'Elisha?' This isn’t the image or personality profile that most
people today demand of a Christian.
When
there is an Elisha on the scene lots of sensitive and polished folks will be
greatly offended - but the waters will part, axe-heads will float, bottom-lines
will become healthy, jobs will get done, justice will be established, kids will
either respect their elders or get eaten by bears...bulls will either plow or get
eaten, and the local assemblage of clergy (school of the prophets) will follow
along chiding or taunting.
Smooth, poised, able to win friends and influence
people? Not Elisha. Willing to charge hell with a garden hose and stand
between the devil and the deep blue sea? Yes, that's Elisha!
The
question isn't, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" but, rather, "Where are the Elisha's and
Elijah's of the Lord God?"
Where
are the people who have a personality conducive to advancing righteousness in
this world? Where are the folks who refuse to leave-well-enough-alone when
things aren’t right?
Where
ARE the Elisha’s and Elijah’s of the Lord God? Jesus
turned to bombastic Simon Peter and said, ‘you are right, this is truth and
upon this bedrock truth I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it!’
It's time to attack the gates
of hell.