Big Things

Big Things

There is a story of a man that rode into a western town on a stagecoach. He was hired as the local saloon’s bartender. The owner gave him a word of warning: “Remember, if you ever hear that Big John is on his way to town, drop everything and run for your life.”

Things went fine for several months until one day, a big strong cowhand with a ghost-white face burst through the swinging doors shouting, “Big John’s a comin’, Big John’s a comin’.” The patrons scrambled to get out of the door, knocking the bartender to the floor, running over him as they rushed out doors and windows. The bartender gathered his senses, got up off the floor, and was dusting himself off when a giant of a man suddenly came through the saloon doors. Riding bareback on a buffalo, using a rattlesnake for a whip, he rode through the doors, splintering the doors and doorframe. The man flung the snake into the corner, knocked over the tables as he walked up to the bar, and then with his huge fist split the bar in half. “Give me drink,” he yelled. “Y-y-y-yes sir,” said the frightened bartender. The man bit the top of the bottle off with his teeth, downed the contents in one gulp, and let out a belch that shattered the saloon mirror, and then turned to leave. The bartender said, “W-w-w-would you like to have another d-d-drink?” The man roared as he jumped back on his buffalo, “I ain’t got time. Big John’s a comin’ to town.”

Big things almost always intimidate us. Often big things produce fear and even a paralyzing effect.

Today is the last in a series of four messages that revolve around the calling and early ministry of Elisha the prophet.

Today it may be that God is calling you to do something bigger than you can imagine yourself being able to do

.

You may have been thinking for the last few weeks about what God wants you to do.

For some of you it may be a bigger thing than what you want to deal with.

Let’s examine today the reality of doing things for God, which we know we can not do by ourselves. If we can understand that with God all things are possible is more than just a cute phrase. It is more than just a nice line. It is fact. It is reality. With God’s help through the power of His Holy Spirit we can do anything. There is nothing that we can’t do.

II Kings 2: 11-14

“So the two of them walked on. 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 Jordan. 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. 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. “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.” 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. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.”

Elijah asked Elisha a very important question right before he and Elisha knew he was about to be taken from this earth. He offered to help in whatever way Elisha needed. It is these kinds of occasions that can be most revealing about the character of someone. This was a test of Elisha’s character and values.

His primary desire leaps from his mouth before he even has time to think about it: “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,”

Elisha’s desire to succeed Elijah was no glamorous or appealing choice during the Omri dynasty. It basically meant your life could and probably would be in danger if you faithfully delivered God’s messages.