Friday 26, July 2013
TEXT: 2 KINGS 4:38-44
KEY VERSE: “So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof” (2 Kings 4:40).
Truly, the blessing of the Lord “maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22). How often we see the very pleasures and attainments of the world becoming the means of downfall, sorrow or death of those who get them. But for those who trust in the Lord, His providence never plays such trick on them.
Elisha, in today’s text, had just returned from his providential sojourn at the home of the Shunammite woman to the company of the school of prophets located in Gilgal. There was famine in the land. As he catered for the spiritual need of the budding prophets by teaching them God’s word, he was equally concerned about their physical needs. He instructed his servant to prepare meal for them. In the course of making the pottage, an unnamed gatherer of herbs had mistakenly included poisonous herbs which caused the unsuspecting eaters instant stomach cramps. Elisha heeded their cry and sanctified the whole food with a meal (flour) tossed into the death pot. He also miraculously fed a hundred with only twenty loaves.
This episode holds great lessons for us. We must be rest assured that God is interested in our overall well-being and makes necessary provision for us even in difficult times. Care must be taken, however, as to the solution “herbs” we gather in a bid to meet our needs. Today, there are so many poisonous ideas, doctrines and prophecies that appear so attractive to the untrained minds but at the end they produce sorrow and death.
God’s intervention through Elisha shows that God is able to turn our situations around from bad to good once we trust Him. Settle it also in your mind that “little is much when God is in it”. There is no basis for fear when we walk with the Lord. Have you discovered what tastes like death in your ‘pot’? Hand the matter back to the Lord in faith, ensuring that you are within the circle of His will.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If we remain innocent, God often turns our mistakes into miracles.
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