Just When I Get Comfortable!

Pastor Marco has often warned us that “familiarity is our worst enemy.” It can make us take for granted the things that God has blessed us with, and even God Himself if we’re not careful. The problem is, we love comfort and ease. We do our very best to avoid anything that might make us work too hard or dig deeper than we think we need to. It’s times like this that week need to allow God to do work within us, so that our faith can become more robust.  So that our desire to live for Him and serve Him, grows deeper and wider. Jabez understood the importance of this need;  “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” – 1 Chronicles 4:10

How often, though, are we as intentional as Jabez in asking the Lord to stretch us with more responsibility in His name? Greater faith to deal with greater challenges of life? To shed any familiarity that might cause us to be “satisfied” and blasé about our Christian life?

In 2 Kings 4: 1-37, we read a story about a Shunammite woman who was a wealthy married woman of faith who had no children.  After showing great generosity to the prophet Elisha, he unexpectedly told her that she would have a child as a reward for her faithfulness.  After the child was born, he began working in the fields with his father. Sadly, however, the child suddenly died in his mother’s arms after a brief illness. Although the boy is later miraculously resurrected by God through Elisha, the story appears to be just as much about God doing a work IN Elisha, including appearing to be taking him out of his familiar comfort zone.

We notably see in this passage and even in a subsequent passage that Elisha was prone to giving his blessings almost by proxy, “from a distance.” In this passage, Elisha’s servant appears to be someone who “screens all of his calls.” When the servant does relay the woman’s request to him, Elisha initially responds by sending his servant to lay Elisha’s staff on the dead boy, in order to bring him back to life, instead of Elisha personally attending to the situation himself.  In another subsequent passage Elisha is sought out by a man named Naaman, who has been stricken with leprosy and is wanting Elisha to cure him - (2 Kings 5).  

In that story as well, Naaman is intercepted by Elisha’s servant, who ultimately relays a message to Naaman about how Elisha has instructed him to be cured, much to Naaman’s dismay. Most notably, Elisha’s mentor, Elijah, (with a “j”), did not operate this way. Elijah interacted with people more directly in dispensing the blessings of God, something that Elisha may have since forgotten, or worse yet… taken for granted.
 
In the story of the Shunammite woman, Elisha is seemingly dumbfounded that the Lord did not reveal to him in advance about what her need was, particularly since this was a woman that he knew well and likely even prayed for. It seemed that he was more surprised that God had NOT spoken to him, than if God had spoken to him. The story appears to be at least in part, a deliberately orchestrated event by God to get Elisha out of his comfort zone, and return him to a way of serving that was more personal, passionate, direct and perhaps most importantly - - not easily taken for granted.

There are 3 important take-aways that I think we can learn from this story:
1.       Our service to God should always be intimately connected with our devotion and personal relationship with our God.

2.       Our faith is a work in progress, and therefore, is subject to unexpected tests, to make it more robust, while also making us more humble before God.

3.       Our disciplines and practices of Christian living that we have learned from Godly mentors can fade with familiarity without notice, unless we safeguard against it.
Question: What areas of your walk with Christ might you be taking God’s blessings, or even God Himself, for granted?

Prayer:
Lord, please help us to never take you for granted. Help us to remember to pray to You for ways that we can constantly serve with You in mind, including remembering that when we serve others in Your name, we are actually serving You. That puts a different spin on things for us.

Lord, help us also to remember that Your ways of strengthening our faith are often unexpected, and involve paths that we would ordinarily choose to avoid according to our own comfort seeking ways. We know You only do so for our good, to shape us into the servants You desire and intend us to be.

Lord, help us to find and learn from Godly mentors, in ways that we not only remember for our own growth and development needs, but so that we might also impart their wisdom to others you privilege us to share with.
In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.