Monday, November 17, 2014

Lessons from Elisha's Story (1 Kings 18)

If You Give Your Best in Obscurity, God Will Recognize It

When we receive a call from God, we are often anxious to begin the work immediately. No doubt Elisha wanted to be God’s prophet. But God often gives us the time we need to learn what we must to serve Him well, even if it’s not what we want. In the case of Elisha, serving Elijah helped him learn how to serve God. Elisha left a season of sowing in the fields to enter a season of sowing in the life of Elijah.

If You Do Your Best in the Small Things, God Will Give You Bigger Things to Do

In the ten years Elisha served Elijah, he was asked to do the lowliest of tasks. An officer of the king of Israel described Elisha as the one who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. That was normally the job of a servant of low status. If Elisha did that, he undoubtedly performed other menial tasks during his decade of service.

This was undoubtedly a change for Elisha. When Elijah placed his mantle on him, Elisha had been plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. That means his family must have been wealthy. It is likely that he was used to having others serve him. But Elisha was willing to do whatever God asked of him.

If you are willing to do small things in the service of God, and do them with excellence, God will give you opportunities to do bigger things for Him when you are ready.


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--excerpt from a blog post by John Maxwell              click here to read entire article

You can read more about Elisha in John Maxwell's book, "Learning From The Giants"