Twice The Strength

I'll be unable to post tomorrow, so here is the devotion for Thursday, July 2nd.  A big thank you to all my loyal readers.  God bless.

“And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” (2Ki 2:9 AV)

This request reminds me of the answer Solomon gave to the LORD when posed with the same question.  What is it that I should give thee?  What is it that you really want.  Elisha’s response is similar in that it too, was a request with a forward view.  Solomon asked for wisdom that he might be able to rule effectively.  Elisha asked for a double portion of spirit that he might serve the LORD as a man of God with power.  Both could have asked for other things.  Solomon, as the LORD pointed out, could have asked for peace, long life, or wealth.  Elisha could have asked for protection from enemies, increases revelation, or that his needs be met as he stepped out on faith.  What Elisha asked for is for the hand of God to be on him in a powerful way that he might do all that God would ask of him.

I ran track a few times.  It was not fun.  I was a sprinter, not a distance runner.  When I made the track team, all of my coaches did the same thing.  The first thing they did was to time us.  Wow, that kid is fast.  Put him on the team.  The first practice rolled around and once stretching was done, every practice went the same way.  We ran and ran and ran.  Not sprints.  Running.  Running a mile, then two, then three.  That was not my thing and I would eventually fall behind everyone.  The hardest was the last lap.  Our coaches would tell us to pace ourselves and keep within striking distance of the rest of the pack.  Then, when it was time to turn on the after-burners, we were told to run as fast as we could.  The idea was to reserve energy by staying with the pack and the burning it all on the final sprint.  The thing is, this didn’t work for me.  I could never accelerate.  Once I got into a rhythm, I could not get out of it.  No matter how fast I started, I would slow to a steady run and that is how I finished.  Needless to say, I never won a race.  I could not finish as I started.

Perhaps Elisha had in mind the frailty of Elijah.  Remember, Elijah wanted to quit on God.  He gave up right after the prophets of Baal were slain and Jezebel sought his life.   It was then Elisha was ordained and helped Elijah for twenty-three more years.  Perhaps when he asked for double the spirit, what he was asking for was more power and energy to serve the LORD at the end of his ministry as he did at the beginning.  It was after the fire-called offering that Elijah ordained Elisha, anointed a friendly king for Edom, and the king of Israel was replaced.  Even though God did all that, Elijah never fully recovered to his pre-Baal slaughter self.  I can identify.  As we get older, we slow down.  We have less energy.  The ministry is an emotional calling.  We are called to heal the spiritually and emotionally injured.  This takes a lot of spiritual and emotional capital.  The older we get, the less our reserves become.  We have the potential of a bright beam becoming a faint flicker.  That is unless we are careful to seek the LORD’s face and hand upon us.  A waning ministry does not have to be a reality.  This is what Elisha wanted.  He wanted enough spirit to go out with a bang.  He wanted to go with his boots on, still wielding the sword of the Spirit.  That is the word of God.  His deepest desire was he be enabled and empowered to start and finish the same.  What a request.