Obedience Matters
Thursday, December 12
2 Kings 8:5-6 (NIV)
“And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”
Devotion
In the verses above, the story of the Shunammite woman who took care of Elisha when he was on his journeys, and whose son was previously raised from the dead by Elisha, is being recounted to the king. When a famine came upon the land, Elisha had advised her to leave temporarily until the situation there became better. However, once she returned, squatters had taken over her home and her land. As Gehazi was sharing her story, she showed up and was appealing to the king to return her home and land to her. Because he had heard of her great faith, the king instructed one of his servants to see to it that all that was hers was returned.
What are you believing God for in your life right now? As He looks back on your past, will He find you faithful? Have you continued to walk in His will and His ways whether all is going good or bad? Have you done for the Kingdom what He has called you to accomplish? Our obedience to Him equates to our faith in Him. If we truly trust Him, we will obey His instructions, then we can truly pray in faith and receive His answer.
Today’s Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for this Biblical history reminding us how You reward obedience and faithfulness. I confess, I am often in the place of needing mercy and forgiveness. Help me, Lord God, to repent and change and grow and be more like the woman whose son was restored to life after she provided a place for Elisha to stay. Help me to trust and grow even more than that to be as trustworthy with Your Word and as bold as Elisha so that Your miracles flow in my presence even as they flowed from Elisha. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Apply It Today
A characteristic of Elisha was that he sought and believed God for miracles. Unlike some others in the Bible, it seems Elisha did not give in to the temptation to try to make the miracles happen by improperly manipulating a situation or acting on a backup plan because he thought God was being slow. Let’s be like Elisha and the Shunammite woman in what we are believing God for, seeking it through prayer and proper channels, and remembering that God is never late.
Resources:
- As you watch the message, “God Can Restore You”, be encouraged to know that God is able to restore what you have lost.
- Read or recite 1 Peter 1:14 and 1 John 3:22 to yourself daily and allow those words to cause you to obey God.