Christian Devotional – August 9, 2020

Double Portion – #31

The King of Aram is sick and sends his servant to Elisha to find out if he will die. That doesn’t exactly go the way the king expects. Read 2 Kings 8:7-15.

Then Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?'” So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?'” Then Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.” He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept. Hazael said, “Why does my Lord weep?” Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.” Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.” On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
2 Kings 8:7‭-‬15 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/2ki.8.7-15.NASB

Elisha starts to weep and then relates all the horrible and terrible atrocities that this servant standing before him will do. How does the servant respond? Does he deny that he would do them? No. He simply says he doesn’t have the power or authority to do something so “great.”

God knows what is in our hearts to do. God sees what we want to do, if only we had the means to do so. That can be why God doesn’t place us in the situation where we are tempted by having the means.

Are our hearts and desires surrendered to Him? Does he control all of us, even our thoughts and dreams? God wants to replace our sinful desires with the Godly ones. Will we allow Him to do thar?