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Here were are in the waning last days of the year. I don’t know about you, but I often evaluate the past year and anticipate the coming year as December winds down. Sometimes that is exciting and encouraging. Other times it is deflating and can feel a bit hopeless. If I’m honest, I feel a bit of both this year. How about you? The world seems to be spinning faster than it ever has and as we end another year and look to a new one, I’m reminded of a story in Scripture where all was lost: there was no reason to dream and yet the Prophet of God spoke up and declared ‘About this time tomorrow… everything will be made right’. Not only did the Prophet give hope, but it was the most unlikely of characters, 4 dying lepers, who brought about national breakthrough. Curious? Keep reading. This could be a game-changer for you in 2017…
2 Kings 6-7 tells the story of when Samaria, the capital city of the northern tribes of Israel at that time, was surrounded by the Aramaens and under siege. As the siege set in, the people began to starve and take drastic measures to try and stay alive. (Some are quite disturbing if you read the story.) The King, who was not a righteous or God-fearing man to begin with, declared that this calamity was from God and that there was no reason to look to Him for salvation. In the midst of the King’s faithless despair the Prophet Elisha declares that ‘about this time tomorrow’ EVERYTHING (including the economy, the food supplies, the security of the city and deliverance from the surrounding army) would be made right. What if God gave you that word today? Would you believe it? Would you accept it as truth or would you reject it as a tease from a distant, unkind God? What if He declared that over the coming year? What if He is? The story continues… (Click Here To Read My Post ‘You Don’t Do a Promise’)
Feeling Hopeless?
Four lepers (people with a flesh-eating, fatal disease), sitting outside the city walls because they were unable to live within the city according to Jewish law, are also starving but they don’t have the added security of the city walls to protect them from the surrounding armies. They evaluate their situation and come to the conclusion ‘why should we stay here until we die?.’ They realize, 1) if they go into the city they will starve, 2) if they stay where they are they will starve or be killed by the surrounding army, 3) if they go to the camp of the surrounding army they will either be killed OR allowed to live. So, being the pragmatists that they were they opt for number 3. I love these guys! They took action when everything seemed hopeless. They hobble, defenselessly, toward the camp of the enemy army, realizing this may be the end of them but it also represents the only chance they have at the potential of survival. They TOOK ACTION in the midst of the most hopeless situation and when they did, God did a miracle. (Click here to read my post The Power of Saying Yes)
As they make their way toward the enemy’s camp, God causes the Aramaens to hear the sound of a giant army coming towards them. The Aramaen army becomes so replete with fear that they flee their camp leaving behind all their food, money and provisions. When the 4 lepers get to the enemy’s camp they find it abandoned, full of food and supplies and they began to feast! Incredible! One of my favorite parts of the story is when the lepers are feasting on the enemy’s food. They stop at one point and say to each other that they must go back and tell the people in Samaria that God has done a miracle and that there is plenty of food and provision for everyone starving within the city walls. They go back and tell the very people who kicked them out of the city. They share the victory with the very ones that called them outcasts and unclean. And because they do, the entire city is saved and the prophet’s words given just 24 hours earlier come true. About this time tomorrow, everything will be made right. And it was. (Click the link to watch me preach this message)
What About You?
I love this story. It’s one of my favorites in the Bible. But my question to you today is how will you apply it to your life and to the coming year? Maybe 2016 was difficult. It was for me in many ways. Will you blame God for the trouble or will you hold to the promise? Will you look at your seemingly hopeless situations and simply wait around to die? Or, like the 4 lepers, will you take action in the midst of despair and see God do a miracle? Maybe 2016 was a great year for you! Will you go back and share the victory with the ones that may have made it hard on you? These are not easy questions to consider but they are life-giving. (Click here to read my post called ‘Response- Ability’)
As we face a new year let us not discount who we are and what we have to offer. Let us not forget the promises of a God who is effortlessly miraculous. And let us be willing to share the joys and victories with those whom may not ‘deserve’ it in our eyes. May we keep our eyes on our God and Savior in these days. For to see Him well and to do His will is to have and maintain the best view in town. To have that vantage point is why I take the time each week to write this blog in the first place. Let’s keep our eyes on Him! There’s no better view than that. Thanks for reading this year. It means a lot.
From The Bible
Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” – 2 Kings 7:1 NIV
“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? “
– Jeremiah 32:27 NIV
‘In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. 2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.’ – Psalm 25:1-3 NIV
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