I don’t often, if ever, share an entire devotional from someone else’s writing. However, the one
that I read this morning is worth the read. I pray for those of you that take the time to read it – that
you won’t just read the devotional but the scripture it is meant to highlight – and that it will be a
blessing to you. I pray that He will show you an Elijah in your life – that you can praise Him for;
or that He will reveal to you the Elijah you are to someone else, that you might surrender that
relationship to Him. I pray that He is making your faith your own, that you are learning to walk so
that you might one day be used in leading others to walk the walk of faith – after all – it is to this
we have all been called.
“As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire
appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.”
(2 Kings 2:11)
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 2: 1-18
If you have been a serving believer long, you’ve probably enjoyed the tutelage of an
“Elijah”. I certainly have. “Elijahs” are precious gifts from God to nurture us in our spiritual lives.
We see them as God’s favored ones. Those we believe have a special “in” with God. They are
our heroes. The ones we look up to and call in times of crisis. Their most important role,
however, is discipleship – not dependency, and that’s why our “Elijahs” are usually only
temporary.
Some of us feel hurt or bitter because we’re not as close to this person as we need to be.
We don’t understand what changed. We don’t want to let go of what we had.
Elisha struggled terribly with the changing nature of his relationship awith Elijah. His tutor
was his strength. He could not imagine serving without Elijah by his side. Elisha was so
frightened he was going to lose Elijah that he followed him everywhere. Over and over the young
servant echoed, “I will not leave you” (2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6).
I wonder if Elisha really meant, “Promise you won’t leave me!” Sometimes we lack the
power to make those promises. Many tried to warn Elisha to prepare for the separation, but he
refused to listen. Finally, when forced to hear the truth, Elisha had only one request: “Let me
inherit a double portion of your spirit” (2 Kings 2:9). He asked the blessing of a firstborn son, and
God tenderly granted his request.
No matter how badly Elisha wanted to hang on to Elijah, separation was inevitable. The
results reveal why God usually retains our Elijahs only temporarily. Look at Elisha’s respone in
verse 14: “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?”
You see, Elisha had attached the presence of the Lord in his life to the presence of
Elijah.” How would Elisha ever discover that God was his own if Elijah retained his powerfully
influential role in the young man’s life?
God isn’t likely to sweep your Elijah up in a whirlwind, but a change in the relationship is
virtually inevitable. We don’t give babies crutches. We teach them to walk. When God sees we
are ready to walk, often He places some distance between us and the person we’re dependent
on. He wants to show us He is our God, too.
Sometimes we must give up our Elijahs, but like Elisha, we get to keep one treasure
forever: the cloak they left behind. Everything we learned from them. Each memory. The
heritage of their faithfulness. That’s our cloak.
Don’t despise the cloak because it’s all you have left. The cloak was God’s intention all
along.” From “Whispers of Hope” day 61.