What is it in your life today that seems absolutely impossible? If you have any thought or any circumstance that seems impossible today, that folks is right up God’s alley… Let me begin today by saying this:
As long as we honor God … nothing is impossible! And how do we honor God with our lives? Through obedience to what God calls us to do—by honoring God in all that we do… Let me share with you a story from the Old Testament—an incident in the life of a lesser-known prophet of the Old Testament by the name of Elisha (not Elijah, his predecessor). The miracles that took place through his life may not be as well known as those of his predecessor (i.e. that one mountain … and that one miracle—pretty awesome…), but there are twice as many miracles listed in scripture associated with Elisha as there were with Elijah! So, today, you’re going to hear from Elisha … and I love this guy! Listen carefully, as we hear the story of 4 kings and a prophet … in the midst of a situation that seemed absolutely impossible:
So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals. 10 “We’re done for!” King Joram exclaimed. “The LORD has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!” 11 King Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the LORD?” An officer of King Joram’s forces answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah’s assistant.” 12 “He is a true prophet,” King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha. 13 “Why should I help you?” Elisha said to the king of Israel. “Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted.” “No!” Joram replied. “It is the LORD who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab.” 14 Elisha answered, “By the living LORD, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn’t respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah. 15 Now get me a musician.” As the musician played his harp, the power of the LORD came on Elisha, 16 and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. 17 Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.'” 18 And Elisha continued, “But this is an easy thing for the LORD to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites. 19 You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones.” 20 The next morning, at the time of the regular morning sacrifice, water came flowing from the direction of Edom and covered the ground. – 2 Kings 3:9-20 (TEV)
So, here’s the story of 4 kings … and a prophet (Elisha)! And what a story it is… It’s a story of faith, folks—what one might call ‘audacious faith!’ I want to begin here:
SOMETIMES, LIFE SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE… Verse 9 begins: “So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals.” What will our reaction be when God calls us to a task or allows circumstances that seems absolutely impossible to us? Will it be the reaction of King Joram? Verse 10 shows us that: “We’re done for!” King Joram exclaimed. “The LORD has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!” Or, will it be the reaction of King Jehoshaphat? We find that one in verse 11: “King Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the LORD?’ An officer of King Joram’s forces answered, ‘Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah’s assistant.’”
Have you ever been in the midst of what seemed like an impossible situation and knew you needed help from above? You knew that you had come to the end of your rope, your experience, your education … and now it was time for God to act! Here’s a principle that I want us all to glean from this Bible lesson. We can get educated, we can read our Bible every day (which is a good idea, by the way), we might have walked with God for 80 years and think that we have some special ‘in’ with God, but folks … there will always come a certain time in our lives when we know that only God can act in a certain situation; it’s only God who can make a difference where we’re at in life. IT’S ONLY GOD WHO CAN MAKE IT RAIN! It didn’t matter how many troops they had; it didn’t matter how many horses they had … or other equipment. Without water … they could not go on! And that’s a truth we need to hear today… ONLY GOD CAN MAKE IT RAIN! We’ve got to remember this on our knees, folks, and ask God to do what only God can do…
But even knowing that, sometimes we fight God every step of the way… which would be just like King Joram from Israel. But, then, hopefully we come to our senses and realize that turning to God is the only way to deal with the situation at hand and—out of obedience—we turn to Him. That would be King Jehoshaphat… So, sometimes, life seems impossible (and let me remind you of what came next)…
12 “He is a true prophet,” King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha. 13 “Why should I help you?” Elisha said to the king of Israel. “Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted.” [I love Elisha! He’s a bold preacher. He’s in the king’s face with the truth … and a little bit of sarcasm! He’s like the Billy Graham of his day! He’s fearless … and there’s no holding him back!] “No!” Joram replied. “It is the LORD who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab.” 14 Elisha answered, “By the living LORD, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn’t respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah.
So, sometimes … life seems impossible … AND SOMETIMES THAT MEANS DOING THE IMPROBABLE (when we’re following God)! Verse 15 explains: “Now get me a musician.” As the musician played his harp, the power of the LORD came on Elisha….” Talk about improbable! Elisha begins with ‘bring me a harpist!’
Folks, I love this part… Here are the armies of Israel, of Judah, and of Edom; they’d taken the long route through wilderness into Moab in order to surprise their enemy and it took 7 days … and they—both soldiers, mounts & pack-animals—were now dying of thirst (oases had dried up)! (It would be like having your car break down in the middle of the desert without any extra water—no sign of another vehicle anywhere!) Folks, this was a seriously impossible situation! And that’s where God begins to shine…
So, what does the Man of God do? He asks for a harpist! Now, I want to make sure that you all understand what’s going on here—the severity of the situation: 3 armies, in the middle of a desert, ran out of water after 7 grueling days of marching … and this prophet, Elisha, wants some MOOD MUSIC! What’s going on here? As I’ve said before, music is the gateway to the presence of God; that’s why it’s so important in worship … and apparently at other times in our lives… But, again, talk about the improbable! “Now get me a musician [harpist].”
Then Elisha continues with the improbable by telling them to ‘dig ditches!’ right after they’d marched in the hot wilderness for 7 days and the oases they’d come to were all dried up; here’s what God said (and that’s what we’ve all come here to hear) in vv. 16-17:
16 and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. 17 Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.’ “
So, obedience has to come first! If God says to ‘dig ditches,’ then we have no choice but to ‘dig ditches’—to prepare for what God has ahead (and only God knows what that is for sure). Then, AND ONLY THEN, the blessings will surely follow! GOD WILL SEND THE RAIN … right here to Dodgeville, Wisconsin … and do a work here beyond our imaginations … for his Kingdom!
Folks, as long as we honor God … nothing is impossible! But, we can’t expect God’s blessings on our work here … unless we’re willing to do it God’s way! Are we digging the ditches that God has called us to dig right here, right now? Have we been faithful to that? Let me share with you some of the ditches that have been dug around here in the past few years—how God is busy preparing this congregation to be his church in the future (and it’s my time to brag on the SPRC and Staff)…
- Matt & Beth Schlueter – came to this congregation about 6 years ago—a young couple who are absolutely sold out for Christ! And I’m here to tell you … we wouldn’t be where we’re at today, ministry-wise or worship-wise, without the dedication to Christ and hard work of this couple. Matt is our Multi-Media Coordinator and Beth has been our Connections Coordinator. (Beth’s sister, Tammy, has now recently come on board to help with the Connection Ministry here at DUMC…)
- Through a series of events that only God could have arranged, Carla Pustina came to work with us here a couple of years ago; her #1 qualification for working here was … being absolutely sold out for Christ! She’s not only added to the efficiency of this place, but has helped to restructure this place with God’s LOVE…
- Another who is absolutely sold out for Christ (who you will hear more from in the weeks ahead) is Gail Ray. How many of you know that she has entered into the Candidacy process, here in the Wisconsin Annual Conference, to become an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church … some day? And she feels called to serve the church through this congregation (though it’ll probably be a 10-year process or so)… Gail has recently come on as our Adult Ministries Coordinator; she’ll be focused on making adult disciples for Jesus Christ…
- And yet another whom God has had his hand on in a powerful way, another who is absolutely sold out for Christ … is Craig (and Alex) Brown! I think that God got a hold on both of them during their participation in an E.T. class … and they feel called to work with our youth here (Youth Ministries Coordinator) in a huge way!
- And, folks, as we honor God with our lives … God is going to send more blessings to us in the form of a Children’s Ministries Coordinator some day! Just as God’s been faithful to send rain in the past (sending us the blessing of the right people to lead ministry), God will be faithful in this area, too … and we won’t have just someone—we’ll have the right someone, whom God desires to lead this area. And I could name many, many more today, too…
Folks, we are blessed, but what I want you to know is that our SPRC (Thanks, Terry!) has been digging ditches for a few years now … preparing for the ministry and the life together that God has in store for us in the future! What ditches is God calling you to dig right now? ‘In your own life? ‘In the life of your church? Can you see the church that God is calling us to be? Remember: Faith believes it before it sees it! In James it says, “Faith without works is dead!” We’ve got to start with the digging… How do we get from inspiration to implementation? It takes faith … to act when God says ‘Act!’ We need to put our faith into action! It takes faith to dig ditches … but dig ditches we must!!!!
Remember what we’ve learned together today:
- Only God can send the rain… It doesn’t matter how much training … or how many resources we might have at our immediate disposal. If we don’t have God’s blessings (the rain), we’re doomed! ONLY GOD CAN SEND THE RAIN…
- AND … remember that we can’t expect God’s blessings on our work here … unless we’re willing to do things God’s way! And God says … PRAY! That’s how things are going to happen around here…
And, folks, one more thing to remember: As long as we honor God … nothing is impossible! Have you got your shovel ready? Are you ready to honor God in that way? Praise God for his faithfulness to us! Praise God for his patience with us! And praise God for the blessings he’ll send … when we’re obedient to dig the ditches he’s called us to dig…