Change

2 Kings 2:1 NIV

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

How Do You Feel About Change?

We all have benchmarks when monumental changes have altered our lives.  My wedding day was one for me.  At the hospital discovering for the first time that Mary Jo and I would have a child was one.  The first time I taught in Russia was one.  Some were not so pleasant such as the evening when I was fired from the first church where I was pastor and the day I got a phone call from my dad that my mom had passed away.  The morning I snapped my leg in half skiing was another benchmark.  We try our best to figure out why certain events happen.  We sometimes wish God would tell us why certain things happen to us.. 

Perhaps you have been like me.  You have wondered why you had to go through something painful or traumatic.  Maybe it was the death of a loved one close to you or the loss of a job or even a career.  It could be that you aren’t sure why you had an injury or health issue.  You might be struggling with why someone doesn’t show you love or how come a person you deeply care about is facing so many trials.  Life is sometimes like a roaring lion and it is not always reasonable or even rational.  What are you to make of the changes you have in your life?  How should you respond to them and where is God in it all?

In the middle of the Gospel of John is an interesting story that illustrates the struggle many have with the wreckage in life.  As Jesus and His disciples were walking through Jerusalem, they came upon a man who had been blind from birth.  The disciples posed Jesus with the question, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9: 2 NIV)  The assumption was that being born blind was bad and that someone was to blame for it.  God would not just let such a terrible thing happen if no one was to blame, they reasoned.  Jesus saw matters differently.  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, “said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.  Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  (John 9: 3-5 NIV) 

Many times people get mad at God for what happens to them.  Others turn their back on God when things get rough because they don’t think He has treated them fairly.  The disciples wanted to know who to blame for the blindness of the beggar they came across.  Jesus did not put blame on anyone, not God, not Satan, not the man or his parents or even on luck or fate.  He did admit that God was at work and all was not lost for the blind man; in fact Christ seemed to indicate that this blindness made it possible for God to do something in particular for the man that could not be done any other way.  We all have experienced something like this if we have lived long enough.  A restaurant was closed but you stumbled upon a café you now love.  A boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with you but then you met the person you eventually married.  A bout with depression gave you insight into deep psychological wounds that you had ignored.  Unemployment led to a new career that fits you better.  Jesus insisted that the blindness was not a curse laid upon the beggar but an opportunity for God to do something for him that would not have been possible if he had always been able to see.

The question before you is simple.  Do you really know what to make of your circumstances?  Are you certain of what your next steps in life should be?  Jesus said that He is the light of the world.  What does that mean?  Although there is much that is dark and confusing now, Jesus can help us make sense of it.  Death is irrational and cruel and sin has broken what once was a perfect universe.   In this darkness there is a light that shines and cannot be extinguished.  Where pain and sorrow seem to rule the day, it is not so.  With Christ we find that love rules the universe and that evil and death will be conquered by our Lord who died to save the world from its sin.  Yes it is hard now.  Yes we suffer many hardships and heartaches.  But there is a light that shines in the darkness and Christ will see you through whatever you face and show you the way.

The famous account of Elijah and his departure from this world in God’s chariot of fire ran on two levels…that of Elijah and that of Elisha.  For Elisha it was not quite as exotic as for Elijah.  Elijah rode God’s flaming chariot to heaven.  How exciting!  Elisha was left to sort out things on earth…life and death, loss and hardship, loneliness and trouble.  The account of the journey Elisha took with Elijah to the spot where God’s chariot would take Elijah away is fascinating from a psychological perspective.   Try to put yourself in Elisha’s shoes as he walked with his friend and mentor; knowing they did not have much time left to be together.  When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.  Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel."  But Elisha said, "As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.  The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?"  "Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."  Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho."  And he replied, "As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.  The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?"  "Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it."  Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan."  And he replied, "As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.  (2 Kings 2:1-6 NIV)

Elisha had many hours, maybe even weeks to process what was about to happen.  You have to wonder if he was really prepared to lose Elijah his friend.  Maybe he hoped that something would change things, that Elijah could stay a week longer, or a month or a year more.  If he just kept going with Elijah they might not be parted.  Elisha had the head knowledge of Elijah leaving but did he have the heart knowledge?  Was he ready for Elijah to go?  His response to the prophets who warned him of what was to come is telling.  ”Don’t talk to me about this!”  Have you ever known something was going to happen but you were not emotionally willing to talk about it…did not want to face it?  Elisha craved every last second he had with Elijah…cherished each last moment with him. Most assuredly he was not ready to face the fact that this part of his life was about to end; that he wouldn’t have Elijah with him any longer.

It is intriguing that we have no record of how Elisha knew of what was going to happen or any explanation of why God chose to take Elijah away just then.  There is no doubt though that it was God who was behind Elijah leaving.  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. (2 Kings 2:11 NIV)  Somehow the Lord let Elisha know what He was about to do with his friend and mentor but we aren’t told how He did so.  Yet there were no silly explanations like so many create for why people die.  No “God needed him in heaven” or “Elisha was too dependent on Elijah to keep them together” or not even “God is making Elijah into an angel to watch over Elisha”.  No nonsense like that as a justification for what God did.  It was just the raw material of God and Elisha building a new life together without Elijah there.  Our Lord does not expect you to make sense of why certain painful and difficult times strike you.  You cannot draw straight lines between the tragedies and sorrows you meet and why you face them because our Lord is not ready to show you everything yet.  We live in a world broken by sin where death and suffering continue.  He does have something in mind for you now though just as He did for Elisha.  Elijah was gone and Elisha couldn’t do anything to change that.  For whatever reason, the Lord took Elijah away.  For whatever reason, you experience difficult and sometimes terrifying times.  God does not give you an explanation though.  It is there…and God is there.

A time comes…and it may be right now for you when you must give up making sense of what you face and begin to make sense of God.  Let me illustrate.  After I broke my leg and I was confined to a wheel chair I still was left with the responsibilities I had before my leg was snapped in half.  One of them was to go around the school where we lived just before bedtime and check the doors to make sure they were locked as well as see if anyone was on the school grounds causing or potentially causing trouble.  My three children wanted to go with me and my older son pushed my wheel chair.  While walking, we came across a large gang of young adults talking loudly in the field.  As we approached them, I was very concerned about what they were doing at the school and felt like I needed to investigate but I was also afraid for my kids.  I told them to leave me and go home which the two younger ones did but my oldest son insisted that he stay with me and push my wheelchair.  When we got to the group there were four young men and four or five teenage girls.  The conversation they were having was filled with cursing and I could smell marijuana too.  They all turned around to face me as I got close and the entire group surrounded me when I told them they had to leave.  The young man who seemed to be the leader of the group cursed at me and started making threats.  The other guys also drew closer and grew increasingly belligerent.  As I sat in my wheelchair encircled by this gang, I had three thoughts.  The first was just crazy.  I was certain I could take out the leader of the group even with a cast on my leg.  I had no idea though how to defend myself against the others.  Immediately I began to wonder about my son.  What could I do to protect him?  I knew he would not leave me.  My third consideration was that God with me and so within I began to feverishly pray for His help.  My mind grew so fixed on Christ that I barely heard what the gang members were saying to me or to each other but all of a sudden one of the girls said to them all, “Let’s just leave” and that is what they did. No further confrontation.  No more threats of violence.  They just left.

Was this a miracle?  Did God change the course of events for me and my son?  I leave that up to you to decide.  All I know is that in desperation, I turned to Christ for help and I was helped.  You may be at that point too.  Something has changed for you and you could use God’s help.  Maybe it is time to find out who God really is and if He can be your Savior.  Your mind, because of what is happening, is undistracted by the Kardashians, by President Trump’s tweets or what is going on in sports, it is laser focused on God right now.  The Bible insists that because of Christ, God can live in you if you invite Him to join you.  He is there and you are there.  What sort of God is He?  Does He have any love or mercy to offer you?  Is there a hope He can give you?  Is He big enough to see you through this?  Who is this Jesus?  It is time for you to find out.  In a world broken by Sin and wrecked by death and suffering, you have a Savior who also suffered and died too.  But now He is alive and He loves you and wants to go through whatever you face with you.  You may not have your Elijah to go with you but you have Jesus.  Find out for yourself who He is.  Let Christ be a part of your life.  Take a moment to invite Jesus to go with you, to make His home in you.  Since He died on a cross to take your sin from you and give you eternal life, He might just be the friend you need right now.

The Importance of Your Praying

Genesis 20:7 NIV

 Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die."

What is the Big Deal about Prayer?

I have a shirt that across the front has in bold, bright letters, “Pray”.  I enjoy the reaction it stirs.  I usually wear it when I am going to be around a lot of different people.  It would be fun to have a web cam record the response of those who notice it for the first time.  A typical reaction is for a person to glance at the letters, then pause a moment as if trying to grasp the meaning of the word found on my shirt.  Almost always, the woman or man quickly looks away without meeting my eyes.  It is as if I stop being a real person to many, just a walking billboard.  Some smile and tell me they like the shirt, most try to pretend they didn’t see it or me.  I did not realize prayer was controversial, or something that made people uncomfortable.  Perhaps it is now; maybe prayer is no longer recognized as a critical part of being human; not thought to be important to making life better.

It seems odd that there has to be a rationale given for prayer but perhaps one must be given.    Does it really matter if you pray or not?  Is anyone affected by the shortness of your praying or your lack of prayer?  The problem is that you almost never get any feedback on how you pray.  If you diet or don’t, you see how you are doing.  When you send a check to a charity, you get a note back thanking you for the support and perhaps even a report of how much help you provide.  If you save for your retirement, eventually you find out what your disciplined living did for you.  Fail to keep oil in your car and at some point you will find out how important oil is to your car engine.  It is not like that with prayer.  How do you ever find out what your praying did or didn’t do for yourself or others?  You never get a report card.  No one knows how effective your praying is and you probably don’t know either.  Unless you are someone like George Muller who kept rigorous records of his praying and how his prayer requests fared, you probably haven’t a clue about your prayer success rate.  The default setting for most people is that they just don’t pray much for themselves or others because they don’t know why they should.  Is there a reason why you should pray often?  Let us look at this question carefully because it may really matter how much you pray.

The Bible has an intriguing account of prayer that must be considered.  The book of Job is most famous for its report of the terrible suffering of Job and how he tried to understand why God let him face such horror.  Yet it could be argued that the most important point made in the book is not even the narrative of Job and his trials but rather what we are told at the end.  Job had three friends who came to him ostensibly to comfort him but ended up berating Job for imaginary wrongs he had committed.  The friends decided that Job had to have been a terrible sinner for God to make him suffer so much.  More than half the book is a dialogue between Job and his friends; the later accusing Job of secret sins and the former denying the charges and asserting his holiness.  Famously Job pleads for someone to intervene for him, someone to defend him to God.  He insists, “…God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. “ (Job 19:6 NIV)

The final chapters of Job are given over to the Lord’s response to Job’s accusations.  God never explains His actions; He merely makes it clear that He is sovereign Lord over all and that no one rises above Him in authority and power.  God challenges Job to bring his charges directly to Him.  The Lord said to Job:  "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?  Let him who accuses God answer him!"  (Job 40:1-2 NIV)  Job’s response is quick and decided.  Then Job answered the Lord:  "I am unworthy — how can I reply to you?  I put my hand over my mouth.  I spoke once, but I have no answer — twice, but I will say no more."  (Job 40:3-5 NIV)  Then we come upon perhaps the most compelling aspect of the entire book…at least as far as we discover the value God gives His people and the part they play in the course of history.

At the conclusion of the book of Job, the Lord turns to Job’s friends and addresses their critique of Job.  After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.  So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.  (Job 42:7-8 NIV)  What an astonishing revelation!  God will wait for someone to pray before He acts.  In this case it is Job.  Consider the implication.  After God’s monologue in which He declares His supreme authority over the universe, He warns Job’s friends that if they do not want to face the consequences of making false accusations against Job, they must depend upon Job to pray for God’s mercy.  Why did God have Job pray for his friends?  Clearly it was because the friends needed Job to pray for them.

This is a stupendous revelation!  God waited for Job to pray before He decided the fate of Job’s three friends.  It is as if you did not want to act until one of your friends gave her opinion.  Or it is more like your father not punishing your brother until you said whether he should or not.  Prayer has a real effect with God and changes the course of human events.  Remember what Jesus said about His people?  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15 NIV)  One characteristic of friendship is that friends influence each other.  They start to think alike as the bond between them strengthens.  Friendship is never a one-way street.  Friendship is by definition the linking of people so that they impact each other through love and loyalty.  If prayer is the way we bond with God, then it seems reasonable that in our prayers, there is a back and forth impact that takes place between us.  As your friend, God cares about what matters to you and He is affected by the way you think and how you feel about things.  We think of God as some isolated independent being who does everything on His own but He isn’t.  Our Lord is your friend and your Father and He loves you as your friend and your Father.   That is why prayer is so important.  God is, in some way that cannot be explained, influenced by you.

Consider the implications of Ephesians 6:18.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (NIV)  Jude 20 has a similar admonition.  But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. (NIV)  This verse, when considered in its original Greek setting is almost identical to Ephesians 6:18 because it literally directs us to “in the Holy Spirit continually be praying ones”.  To pray “in” the Holy Spirit is like a fish living “in” the ocean or a bird living “in” the atmosphere.  The “in” of being in the Holy Spirit is an “in” of complete immersion, of total envelopment.  The bird absorbs the atmosphere as well as moves within it.  If you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is all about you in your praying.  He is “in” what you pray, the guide to your praying, He is why you pray and the reason you have trust in God as you pray.  When you “pray in the Holy Spirit”, it means that the Holy Spirit is a part of every aspect of your praying.

But how does God our friend want us to pray?  He wants us to pray about anything the Holy Spirit brings to mind but especially He wants us to pray for every single Christian who comes to mind.  Why should we pray so much?  It is because God cares about our opinion of things: He wants to hear what we have to say about others.  In fact He cares so much that He waits for us to pray before He acts.  Job had the same task we have, to bring his concerns about people to God and ask for Him to help them.  How can we know what to pray about for others?  When we are in the Holy Spirit, immersed in Him, thinking with Him and through Him, we will get it right.  Our prayers will match what God wants to do for them.

Without the Holy Spirit directing our thinking as we pray, it is a hit or miss proposition.  Praying becomes irrational and filled with chaos.  The Spirit straightens out our praying, makes it coherent.  We know what we ought to pray and how we should pray because the Holy Spirit makes sense of it for us.  We have the foundation for confident praying in Romans 8, perhaps the most important chapter in the entire Bible.  In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.  (Romans 8:26-27 NIV)

Let this sink in a moment.  On our own we have no idea how to pray.  In our sin weakened state we are incompetent at prayer.  But with the Holy Spirit working within us, we have no limits in prayer, there is no ceiling.  Just think about what you could do for others if you become locked in on the Holy Spirit and were in total sync with God.  You could bring real peace and joy to the world…to those your love.  Imagine the good you could do if you took prayer seriously; if you made it your top priority!  It would not be a stretch to state that the book of James provides us with the greatest encouragement to pray found anywhere in literature.  Consider its implication.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.  Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.  (James 5:16-18 NIV)  Elijah was a person just like you with all your faults and weaknesses, with all kinds of idiosyncrasies and quirks just like you.  Yet he could pray and a drought came to pass because of his praying and then after three and a half years the drought ended because of his praying.  That could be you, praying just like Elijah.  You may argue that you aren’t righteous though.  The truth is that because of Christ in you, your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of Elijah and all the other greats of the Old Testament.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 NIV)  And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.  (Philippians 1:9-11 NIV)  It is not a righteousness issue for you when it comes to praying.  It is a willingness issue.  Are you willing to stay close enough to the Holy Spirit that you can make a supernatural difference in your circle of influence when you pray?  Do you through the most powerful tool you have, prayer, want to make the lives of others better.  You can.  You just have to decide if you are willing to put in the effort to pray.