By Alice Smith
Who would you call in a spiritual emergency? Do you have an Elijah--someone
whom God has placed in your life as a mentor and role model? Although God provides us Elijah, in due time, we learn that we must not continue to lean on them. God gives
us mentors for a reason; but he also gives those mentors for a season. His ultimate
intention for us is to stand on our own. The day will come--if it hasn't already--for
you to leave the safety and security of the nest and fly.
Consider the partnership of Elijah and Elisha. Three times Elijah made plans to leave;
and three times Elisha replied, "As Jehovah lives, and as your soul lives, I will not
leave you." He admired and emulated Elijah. He didn't want his friend and mentor to
leave. But there would come a time when Elijah would have to go (see 2 Kings 2:13-25).
At some point like Elisa experienced, your Elijah will have to leave. It is painful but
predictable, and it's God's plan. You needn't refuse to release your Elijah, or else you
will forfeit your full Kingdom potential.
When Elijah ascended in a chariot of fire, Elisha found himself alone. He returned to
the Jordan River, which is symbolic of death and separation. "Crossing Jordan"
means death to the old and birth to the new opportunities and responsibilities. Your
Jordan experiences are those in which you must take the responsibility to walk out
what your Elijahs have taught you. When you are alone, the Jordan, once a very
familiar place, now seems overwhelming and impossible to cross.
Some wrongly conclude that troubles dissipate when one becomes a Christian. Not
so. God does not remove trouble but He empowers us to overcome in the midst of it.
After all, without trials there would never be triumph. There is no victory without war
and there is no war without an enemy. Strangely, trouble is our friend. Trouble
brings us to total dependency upon Christ. Prepare to cross your own Jordans, to
confront your own giants and to gain your own victories.
The usual response to trouble is to say, "I can't." But we fail to realize that our tests
are tailor-made by the Father (1 Cor. 10:13).
Wasn't God the God of Elisha as He was the God of Elijah? Even though it seemed
overwhelming, Elisha was ready to cross the Jordan alone. And we must make the
same journey too.
It's important when faced with trouble to keep our focus on Christ. When we focus
on our trouble, all of our strength goes to the problem rather than the solution. At
that point, we are not only afflicted by trouble but we are distracted from our
communion with Christ who is the Source of our strength. Intimacy with Christ is
where you will find the strength to stand. You are to stand in faith, walk by faith, and
live by the faith of the Son of God (see Eph. 6:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 2:20).
In 2 Kings 2:15, we read that "a company of prophets from Jericho were watching
Elisha." Inside your heart you long to trust God for the extraordinary. But people are
watching. You wish someone else could do the work for you. The thought may come
to you as it probably did to Elisha, Where is my Elijah when I really need him?
Amazingly, if you will press in and be true to the call of God, regardless of your
feelings of insecurity and inadequacy or your lack of faith, the Lord will prove Himself
to you.
In 2 Kings 2:23-25we find Elisha being jeered by 42 young people at Bethel. Bethel
means "the house of God." Yes, even Christian friends and family may mock your
faith or your passion or the level of your commitment. When I was a newly saved
teenager, older Christians said, "Alice, after you've been saved awhile, you'll settle
down." Today, after more than 42 years, I am more passionately in love with Christ
than ever!
Shortly after I began writing my first book, Beyond the Veil: Entering Into Intimacy
With God Through Prayer, a Christian leader told me that I was foolish to think that I
could write a book. That statement so intimidated me that I shelved the book for 10
months. However, I couldn't shake the fact that the Lord had spoken to me to write
this book. In Christ I found the courage to begin again, and Beyond the Veil has
become a bestseller.
Yes, even in the Church you will find your critics. And its
possible that those who have walked with you for years may leave you if the
commitment level becomes too difficult for them.
Are you at your end of your endurance? Have you been feeling the need to quit?
Don't do it! Your extremity of need is God's opportunity. Stand on His promises. In
His time He will disclose the truth and validate you. The fight is not yours, the battle
is the Lord's! Practice what the Elijahs in your life have taught you. Put on the
mantle of prayer, stand confidently in Christ and stop looking back for your Elijah to
do it for you. Jesus Christ is more than enough!
Who would you call in a spiritual emergency? Do you have an Elijah--someone
whom God has placed in your life as a mentor and role model? Although God provides us Elijah, in due time, we learn that we must not continue to lean on them. God gives
us mentors for a reason; but he also gives those mentors for a season. His ultimate
intention for us is to stand on our own. The day will come--if it hasn't already--for
you to leave the safety and security of the nest and fly.
Consider the partnership of Elijah and Elisha. Three times Elijah made plans to leave;
and three times Elisha replied, "As Jehovah lives, and as your soul lives, I will not
leave you." He admired and emulated Elijah. He didn't want his friend and mentor to
leave. But there would come a time when Elijah would have to go (see 2 Kings 2:13-25).
At some point like Elisa experienced, your Elijah will have to leave. It is painful but
predictable, and it's God's plan. You needn't refuse to release your Elijah, or else you
will forfeit your full Kingdom potential.
When Elijah ascended in a chariot of fire, Elisha found himself alone. He returned to
the Jordan River, which is symbolic of death and separation. "Crossing Jordan"
means death to the old and birth to the new opportunities and responsibilities. Your
Jordan experiences are those in which you must take the responsibility to walk out
what your Elijahs have taught you. When you are alone, the Jordan, once a very
familiar place, now seems overwhelming and impossible to cross.
Some wrongly conclude that troubles dissipate when one becomes a Christian. Not
so. God does not remove trouble but He empowers us to overcome in the midst of it.
After all, without trials there would never be triumph. There is no victory without war
and there is no war without an enemy. Strangely, trouble is our friend. Trouble
brings us to total dependency upon Christ. Prepare to cross your own Jordans, to
confront your own giants and to gain your own victories.
The usual response to trouble is to say, "I can't." But we fail to realize that our tests
are tailor-made by the Father (1 Cor. 10:13).
Wasn't God the God of Elisha as He was the God of Elijah? Even though it seemed
overwhelming, Elisha was ready to cross the Jordan alone. And we must make the
same journey too.
It's important when faced with trouble to keep our focus on Christ. When we focus
on our trouble, all of our strength goes to the problem rather than the solution. At
that point, we are not only afflicted by trouble but we are distracted from our
communion with Christ who is the Source of our strength. Intimacy with Christ is
where you will find the strength to stand. You are to stand in faith, walk by faith, and
live by the faith of the Son of God (see Eph. 6:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 2:20).
In 2 Kings 2:15, we read that "a company of prophets from Jericho were watching
Elisha." Inside your heart you long to trust God for the extraordinary. But people are
watching. You wish someone else could do the work for you. The thought may come
to you as it probably did to Elisha, Where is my Elijah when I really need him?
Amazingly, if you will press in and be true to the call of God, regardless of your
feelings of insecurity and inadequacy or your lack of faith, the Lord will prove Himself
to you.
In 2 Kings 2:23-25we find Elisha being jeered by 42 young people at Bethel. Bethel
means "the house of God." Yes, even Christian friends and family may mock your
faith or your passion or the level of your commitment. When I was a newly saved
teenager, older Christians said, "Alice, after you've been saved awhile, you'll settle
down." Today, after more than 42 years, I am more passionately in love with Christ
than ever!
Shortly after I began writing my first book, Beyond the Veil: Entering Into Intimacy
With God Through Prayer, a Christian leader told me that I was foolish to think that I
could write a book. That statement so intimidated me that I shelved the book for 10
months. However, I couldn't shake the fact that the Lord had spoken to me to write
this book. In Christ I found the courage to begin again, and Beyond the Veil has
become a bestseller.
Yes, even in the Church you will find your critics. And its
possible that those who have walked with you for years may leave you if the
commitment level becomes too difficult for them.
Are you at your end of your endurance? Have you been feeling the need to quit?
Don't do it! Your extremity of need is God's opportunity. Stand on His promises. In
His time He will disclose the truth and validate you. The fight is not yours, the battle
is the Lord's! Practice what the Elijahs in your life have taught you. Put on the
mantle of prayer, stand confidently in Christ and stop looking back for your Elijah to
do it for you. Jesus Christ is more than enough!
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