Times of Transition, Day 27 Faithful through change. Read 2 Kings chapter 5. Change in transition is hard, but only when it’s change that we don’t want or didn’t expect. Here we see a young girl who went through a massive change. She was essentially kidnapped and taken to a foreign country and made to live as a servant. How does she respond? She remains faithful to God and to all that she had learned growing up. Apparently she was well treated, or at least had enough respect for the people that she worked for that she wanted them to experience the healing of God. She recommended that her master…

Times of Transition, Day 26 What do you ask for? Read 2 Kings chapter 4. It is interesting to see what people ask for when going through difficult times. This widow was asking Elisha for help and he told her what to do. Then he made the point of telling her to not ask for just a few. She should ask for as much as possible. When we are talking with God, he knows our needs. He doesn’t want us to only ask for the small things. God wanted to bless her. Are we asking God for the things that we need in order to praise and bless Him?

Times of Transition, Day 25 We impact those around us. Read 2 Kings chapter 3. As the kings go to fight, Jehosaphat wants to have the blessing of a man of God. He calls in Elisha, and even though Elishia has no respect for the other 2 kings, because of his respect for Jehoshaphat, he does what they ask. We may be surrounded by people who do not follow God. We may have to deal with people who are not following God. But in many cases, God will continue to bless because of the one faithful person. Are you that one faithful person?

Times of Transition, Day 24 It’s OK to ask for difficult things. Read 2 Kings chapter 2. Here we see Elijah is being taken up to heaven. Elijah gives Elisha the opportunity to ask for anything. Elisha makes a very difficult request, yet Elijah says that as long as he sees him taken up, then he will receive that. It’s okay to ask God for really difficult things. We don’t have to just ask him for little things or try to only worry about the small stuff. We can ask God for the really big and challenging things. God is more than capable of handling those types of requests if…

Times of Transition, Day 23 Insight and action. Read 2 Kings chapter 1. He had seen two of his captains fall before him and still, he is given the exact same order that they were. What does he do? For this captain, he learns from the example of those who have gone before him. Instead of just marching up to this man of God and spouting the same stuff that the king has told him to, he makes the decision to pay respect and to recognize the power of the God that this man serves. He humbles himself before Elijah and as a result God allows his life to be…

Times of Transition, Day 22 Who writes the script of our life? Read 1 Kings chapter 22. This is an interesting story that really stuck out to me today. As I read this I’m reminded that we all determine what we say each day. We have our internal thoughts and then we have the words that actually come out of our mouth, which may or may not be an exact representation of our thoughts. This was a reminder for me that the script that I’m reading from for my life, the words that actually come out of my mouth every day, must only be the words that are written by…

Times of Transition, Day 21 Sold himself to do evil. Read 1 Kings chapter 21. Ahab did evil and terrible things. His wife Jezebel was even worse. As he continued to do evil, God sent Elijah to go talk to Ahab and let him know his judgment. If we continue to defy God, he will bring about a judgment against us, just like Ahab. Will we repent and turn back to God?

Times of Transition, Day 20 War and fighting. Read 1 Kings chapter 20. So much war and fighting between the different countries. The only constant is that God still expects, deserves, and demands praise. Looking at this verse it’s interesting to see that the same consequence was to happen, regardless of what the intent was of the messenger. For our relationship with God, we must understand that he is deserving of our worship.

Times of Transition, Day 19 We all have fear. Read 1 Kings chapter 19. It can be easy to think of the individuals from the Bible who did such amazing and tremendous things for God and assume that they somehow didn’t experience the same emotions that we do today. Somehow they must have been better. Somehow things must have been easier for them to have been able to do all that they did. The fact remains that they absolutely felt everything that we feel today. Elijah, after one of the greatest triumphs recorded, becomes tremendously afraid to the point that he runs away and hides. Our fear is real. The…

Times of Transition, Day 18 Fastest runner in history. Read 1 Kings chapter 18. With the Summer Olympics starting this week, I am focused even more than normal on running and track and field events. I love participating in track and field personally, and have often aspired to be a fast runner. However even the fastest runner ever would not have stood a chance in this run. Elijah would still hold the world record if they had been timing him at that point. He outruns a chariot through the strength of God. We think about all the things that we do, Elijah’s life is a picture of exactly how amazing…