LOOKING FOR THE LORD’S LEADERSHIP
- Read 2 Kings 6:8-23
We find here, an interesting account of the Lord at work. The king of Aram was waging was against Israel. In the war, he would make his battle plans and plan when and where he was going to attack Israel. Every time he made his plans, God would tell Elisha and Elisha would tell the king of Israel where the attack was going to take place. Every time Aram wanted to attack, their plans were thwarted. After a while the king of Aram became convinced he had a spy within his camp. He gathered his men and asked, “Which one of you is the spy? Come on. Yall tell me if someone is acting suspicious.” The men replied, “There is no spy. It’s Elisha. Every time you make your plans, the Lord reveals those plans to Elisha and Elisha tells the king.”
So the king of Aram sends his troops to surround the town Elisha is in, to get rid of his great enemy.
Let me ask you something. Am I the only one who finds it strange that the king of Aram thinks he can sneak up on the man who keeps telling the Israelite army where he is attacking? Am I the only one who thinks it’s funny that this enemy king thinks he can capture the one man who always thwarts his plans?
The Bible has a good term for such people. In 2nd Peter 3 the Bible says they are willfully ignorant. They are blind to truth. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that the god of this age has blinded their eyes.
A man thinks he can outsmart God.
> Psalm 2:4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them.
So the king of Aram sends his troops and chariots to capture, or kill Elisha. When they wake in the morning, the city is surrounded by troops. There is no army there to protect them. There are no troops garrisoned there. There is no earthly defense.
Elisha’s servant panics. He gets upset. He frets and worries.
Elisha, on the other hand, has peace. He is not worried. He is not concerned. He is at peace. He has not made a trip to the doctor to get some medication to help. He’s not been to the bar to get a little something to take off the edge. He has peace. Why? Because he knows God is in control. He knows God is at work. He sees God’s hand.
Wouldn’t you like to be like that? Wouldn’t you like to have peace in the midst of difficulties? I know I would. Wouldn’t you like to see God’s hand at work in your life? How do we find God? How do we see Him at work?
Some will say you just have to get back to nature. You just have to get out of the stressful situation so you can refocus. Mr. Goddard has written an excellent book called A Word to the Wise, that he has offered for free, to any of you who will agree to read it. In that book he talks about natives getting alone in nature and of the witchdoctors there. Don’t let society tell you the Indians and natives lived in an idealic world until modernity messed things up. Those people were afraid of spirits and bad omens and many other things.
No my friend, that is not how you find God. If you want the Lord’s Leadership, if you want His direction, there are several places you may look. There are several items you must attend to.
1. Spend time in God’s Word – Spend time in the Bible. How do you get to know God? How to you learn to understand how He works? You read His Word.
> 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
2. Make it a priority – It must be important to you.
> Deuteronomy 4:29 … you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.
> Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
> 2 Chronicles 15:2 The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek him, He will be found by you…
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
- Luke 11:9-10
Jesus says in Luke that you have to make it priority.
3. Pray like you mean it –
- 2 Kings 6:17
- 2 Kings 6:18
- 2 Kings 6:20
Did you see that? Every time Elisha prayed here, eyes were opened, or they were closed, or they were opened. My friends, God works in response to the prayers of His people. Over and over in this brief story, the prayer of the faithful moves the arm that moves the world.
When Daniel prayed, and his 3 companions joined him, God revealed the secret of the king’s dream to Daniel.
Don’t pray some little old whimpy prayer that you don’t mean. Lord bless all the pigmies in Africa … Larry the Cable Guy can pray like that and not mean a word of it.
Pray like you mean it. It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Peter’s wasn’t when he began to sink in the waves. He just cried, “Lord save me.” But he meant every word of what he prayed. Pray like you mean it.
4. Obey like you love
> John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
> John 14:21 The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.
During the war between the states, a northern pow escaped from his captors. For hours and days he wandered through the woods seeking the union lines and the safety of his companions. Finally, he approached a camp trying to figure out if it was friend or foe. Within minutes, he was surrounded by the pickets and guards and captured. Imagine his surprise when he discovered that they were his fellow soldiers. They were his companions. They were all around him and he never saw them.
My friends, No horse came to harm Elisha, that God didn’t match with a steed to defend. No chariot came bearing trouble that was not matched and more so, by a chariot sent by God to defend. All around us, God is at work. All around us there are opportunities to serve, if we will only have the eyes to see.
