The Spirit of Elijah

Readings for today: 2 Kings 1-3, Psalms 101

A double portion of Elijah’s spirit. I have often wondered what that might look like. Then I started coming over here to Ethiopia. I started meeting men and women who had little to no education, very few resources at their disposal, and seemingly no opportunities to change their station in life. I met men and women who have “nothing” by the world’s standards and yet they have “everything” by God’s standards. Why? They have the spirit of Elijah. They have double and triple portions of his spirit. They perform miracle after miracle on a daily basis. People are healed. Fields become fertile. Water flows in dry and thirsty places. Even the dead are raised. It’s powerful and yet they would tell you the miracles are beside the point. All the signs and wonders are not the main event. The main event is Jesus.

In our reading today, both Elijah and Elisha perform miracle after miracle. Future telling. Pools of water suddenly appearing in the desert. Water purification. Incredible military victories. To the skeptical, stories like these make the Bible seem primitive and superstitious. To the doubter, stories like these can be confusing and frustrating as they wrestle with why they don’t seem to happen much anymore. To the faithful, stories like these encourage belief and deeper trust in God. However, the question still remains...why does God perform miracles?Why does God break through the time/space continuum? Why does He suspend the laws of nature and the universe? Why does He intervene in certain situations but not others? Reach down and touch certain lives and not others? These are important questions that must be faced and thankfully, the Bible provides a clear answer.

First and foremost, miracles are given for the purpose of pointing God’s people to faith. They are not ends in and of themselves. They are signposts. Pointing beyond themselves. They are given to direct our attention heavenward to the Lord of all creation. The Author of all life. They are stark reminders that we are not at the mercy of our circumstances. This world and all the natural laws that govern it - from gravity to thermodynamics to photosynthesis - is not all there is. There is a God who stands above and beyond such laws, who is able to set them aside for reasons only He Himself knows and understands.  

Secondly, miracles are given so that God’s people might always cling to hope. Even when circumstances seem their most dire. When evil seems to be on the march. Injustice and oppression winning the day. Persecution at its fiercest. Rage and violence burning white hot. Disease ravaging the body. Famine and poverty threatening our well-being. Even in the darkest of times, we still have hope. Hope in a God who can and does intervene. Hope in a God who draws near the broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. Hope in a God who fights on behalf of the poor and oppressed and outcast and stranger. 

Third, miracles are given to remind us how limited and finite we are as creatures. Power. Wealth. Influence. Control. We like to live with the illusion that we are the masters of our own destinies especially in the West. We like to believe we are the captains of our fate. We like to think we are in charge. We like to act like we’ve got everything under control. But miracles remind us who truly holds the power. Miracles remind us of our relative insignificance in the grand scheme of things. Miracles bring us face to face with the power of God and, like Job, we shut our mouths and fall on our faces before Him. 

Ultimately, miracles force us to look beyond ourselves. Beyond our needs. Beyond our circumstances. Beyond our wisdom. Beyond our strength. Miracles force us to trust in God. To trust in His purposes and His design. We cannot bend God to our will. There is no magic formula to get God to do our bidding. Miracles happen on His time and in accordance with His will. Our job is to believe. To have faith. To place our lives in His hands and trust Him for the outcome.  

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 4-7, Psalms 102

Real Salvation

Readings for today: 2 Samuel 22-24, Psalms 93

Salvation is real. It’s based on real events within human history. It’s an accurate record of God’s miraculous intervention on behalf of His chosen people which is why it retains such a hold on our imaginations. When I was in seminary, I remember debating fellow students and even some of my professors over the nature of salvation. They believed the events of the Bible to be largely mythological. They believed salvation to be a spiritual metaphor describing the basic human longing for freedom or liberation. They couldn’t conceive of a God who would act within history. They rejected the historicity of events like the Exodus or people like David or even the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. They began with the a priori philosophical assumption that miracles were impossible and therefore the Bible must be wrong or using hyperbole when it describes them. Everything must have a naturalistic or humanistic or scientific explanation. The problem with this approach is it doesn’t adequately explain why events like the Exodus remain so influential over the centuries.

In today’s reading, David composes a song of thanksgiving. It’s a song commemorating his victories over all his enemies. David is finally at peace. He has won all his wars. He has secured his line of succession. He has united the nation of Israel under his rule. And he rightfully gives God all the glory. As he writes his poetry, he draws on the image of the Exodus to describe all God has done for him. “The Lord thundered from heaven; the Most High made his voice heard. He shot arrows and scattered them; he hurled lightning bolts and routed them. The depths of the sea became visible, the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.” (2 Samuel 22:14-16 CSB) He goes on to talk about God lifting him out of the deep waters to bring him to a safe place. He talks about God’s deliverance from all his enemies and how God gave him victory after victory everywhere he went. Clearly, David has in mind specific battles in specific places against specific people. These are not abstract ideas. David isn’t just talking about spiritual metaphors. He is talking about salvation in the literal sense. A real God acting on behalf of His people within real time and space. And David relates his own experiences to the experiences of God’s people throughout their history.

The question I often posed to my fellow students and professors when we would debate is how we could honestly talk about God as “Savior” if He never actually saved anyone? Why would we call Him names like “Deliverer”, “Rescuer”, “Liberator”, etc. if He wasn’t actually engaged in the business of deliverance, rescue, and liberation? It’s baffling to me that people would worship a god who never actually does anything. I am honestly stumped why anyone would seek to follow such a god? Why would we believe or trust anything this supposed god actually said? How is this not just wishful thinking? How is this not just blind hope? No, I worship a God who saves. I worship a God who delivers. I worship a God who parted the Red Sea, saved David from all his enemies, and raised Jesus Christ from the dead. I worship a God who still intervenes miraculously to save His people even today.

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Kings 1-3, Psalms 94

Taking God for Granted

Readings for today: Numbers 11-13, Psalms 43

It’s so easy to take God for granted. It’s so tempting to treat God’s miracles as mundane. It’s so common for us to grumble and complain. It’s like our national past-time. As a pastor, I have spent time with people who literally have it all. They are among the wealthiest people on the face of the earth. They have a loving spouse and great kids. They have a good career and meaningful work. But still they are not satisfied. Still they struggle with discontent. No matter how much God gives them, it never seems to be enough. The same was true for Israel.

Think of all God has done for His people. Delivered them from Egypt. Wiped out their enemies. Created a path through the Red Sea. Met them face to face at Mt. Sinai. Fed them with manna in the wilderness. Gave them water from a rock. One would think after experiencing such miracles that they would never lose faith. Not true. As their journey drags on and more hardships come, they forget what God has done for them and they begin to complain. The journey’s too hard. They’re tired of eating manna. Those closest to Moses - Aaron and Miriam - question his leadership ability. The scouts return with a report about giants in the Promised Land. And with each successive blow, the people’s faith grows weaker and weaker. They have taken their eyes off God.

What about you? Have you taken your eyes off Christ? Are you feeling weighed down by the burdens you carry? Have you forgotten all God has done for you? Have the miracles He’s performed become mundane? Do the blessings you’ve received never seem to satisfy? Accept the invitation of Christ. The author and perfecter of our faith. The One who promises to give rest to all who come to Him. The only One who can truly satisfy every longing of our hearts.

Readings for tomorrow: Numbers 14-16, Psalms 44

Miracles

Readings for today: 2 Kings 1-4

Today’s reading is full of miracles. God healing the waters of Jericho. God filling up a dry land with pools of water. God creating a supply of never-ending oil. God raising a child from death. Miracles are hard for those of us raised with a scientific worldview to accept. We believe such phenomena need to be observable and repeatable or they can’t have happened. We believe there must be some kind of natural explanation so we do all kinds of mental gymnastics trying to explain them away. Surely the water wasn’t actually bad? Surely the water that filled the pools was a freak rain storm? Surely the woman just wasn’t aware of how much oil she had? Surely the boy was just sick or unconscious or in a coma of some kind.

Miracles are by definition unrepeatable events. They are one-time occurrences where the Lord of the universe intervenes supernaturally in His creation. If one truly believes there is a God then one must conclude He is not bound by the same laws of nature He established that govern His creation. He is the Creator after all. Not a created being. He exists outside of time and space. He is truly free and unbounded. He is not subject to what He creates and therefore is able to act as He sees fit.

I have personally witnessed miracles in my life. I have many friends around the world who testify to miracles they have seen. I have seen God heal those who are sick. I have even witnessed a resurrection. These are awe-inspiring events that drive me to my knees before the Lord. They are humbling because of how they bring you face to face with the power of God. But I also know many who question God’s miracles. They wonder why they haven’t seen God act in such ways. They wonder why God performs miracles for some and not others. They sometimes reject miracles simply because they seem so arbitrary and unfair. Such thinking only exposes the poverty of our spiritual condition.

We don’t deserve miracles. We don’t earn miracles. We don’t claim miracles. God is not a genie in a bottle who owes us three wishes. He cannot be manipulated or controlled or bound to our will. He is sovereign. He sees all of history and all of creation stretched out before Him all the time. He chooses to act as He wills to accomplish what is often a hidden purpose. Who are we to question His wisdom? Who are we to question His judgment? God never promises us life will be fair. He never promises to treat everyone the same. These are American ideals. Human ideals. And God is not bound to follow our limited understanding of justice. What does God promise? He promises to love us. He promises to be with us. He is faithful to us. He loves each of us with an everlasting love and that should be miracle enough for us.

Readings for tomorrow: None