Tuesday,
March 28, 2023
One day when her
child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the
harvesters. Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My
head hurts!” His father said to one of
the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”
So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But
around noontime he died. She carried him up and laid him
on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. She
sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I
can hurry to the man of God and come right back.” “Why go today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a
Sabbath.” But she said, “It will be all
right.” So she saddled the
donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t
slow down unless I tell you to.” ….
So Elisha returned with her. Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the
staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet
Elisha and told him, “The child is still dead.” When Elisha arrived, the child was
indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. He went in
alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. Then
he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his
eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he
stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! Elisha
got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself
out again on the child. This time the
boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes! Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. “Call the
child’s mother!” he said. And when she
came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!” She fell at
his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her
son in her arms and carried him downstairs. 2
Kings 4:18-24, 30b-37
The faith of Elisha
has always fascinated me. The test of a
true prophet is 100% accuracy. There was
no “wiggle-room” for that. The penalty
for prophetic failure was death.
Speaking or acting in the name of God, and then having your words or
deeds fizzle-out, was a mark that you were a false prophet; it got you a death
warrant.
It seemed Elisha’s
faith was far beyond worrying about what others might think of him or his words
and deeds. For Elisha it was all about
serving the God who had called him to be a prophet. Laying face-down on the child, with mouth,
nose, hands, and eyes all identifying with the boy, Elisha was (once-again)
accepting the risk of being a prophet.
This boy would raise to life, or Elisha would join him in death. This was no time for unanswered prayer!
For You Today
Despite that, the offer from Heaven
still stands:
Then if my people who are called by
my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore
their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
There are about 2,500 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper explore
some of these: Big Faith and Jailbreak!
Title Image: Elisha raises Son, via Wikimedia Commons Images without
citation are in public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
