Second Kings 4-6

God’s message to me: How big is your faith? How many pots, jars, and other vessels would you gather if the man of God said you could fill them all from one small vessel of oil? Would you run to the prophet believing he could raise your son from the dead? Could you trust a small amount of food to feed a multitude of people?

Promises: Ours is a God of the impossible. He can make food multiply, He can raise the dead and heal the terminally ill. He can make Iron float on water. He can provide warning and information better than any spy.

Commands: Trust in the Lord and He will provide all your needs.

Timeless principles: When hard times come it is God’s people who get the blame. Whether it is the Jews or the Christians they are blamed for calamity. With famine in the land and the capital under siege the king of Israel called for Elisha to be killed. When hard times came to Germany Hitler blamed the Jews. When terrorists smashed planes into the twin towers Christians were blamed and faith was relabeled as hate.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: When everything is going wrong and you seem to have no way out, trust God to give you safe passage.

more to learn for in-depth study: The Jordan river was not the cleanest water source around. In fact, at that time it was a bit of a cesspool. Taking a bath in that filth would be dubious for a healthy man but, because the man of God had told him that God would heal him if he did so, Namaan, washed in that mucky river 7 times.

tomorrow: Second Kings 7-8