Don’t Miss Your Moment
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When the prophet Elijah battled the prophets of Baal and called down fire from Heaven, God answered with such strength that it not only consumed the offering and the wood, it lapped up the water and the stones as well (1 Kings 18:38). And with this extraordinary victory, Elijah had high expectations. He not only expected to see Israel return to God, but he also expected King Ahab and Queen Jezebel to convert from their idolatry to follow Jehovah God. But that’s not what happened.
Rather, Queen Jezebel vowed to assassinate him. In frustration, exhaustion and disappointment, Elijah ran from there, hid out in a cave at Mount Horeb and contemplated giving up.
Elijah is so very human, isn’t he? A mighty man of God one moment, and Minnie Mouse the next.
And as Elijah stewed in his fear and depression, thinking he was the only believer left in Israel, God showed up and called him to come outside. Then God spoke to Elijah, but He was not in the ferocious wind, the violent earthquake or the fire (1 Kings 19:11-13). He spoke to Elijah in a whisper, and said,
“…you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place” (1 Kings 19:16).
This was not a punishment, but rather empowerment and encouragement in answer to the cry of Elijah’s heart. I’m the only prophet left! And God replies, But there is someone; there is someone who can carry your mantle forward when the time for your assignment is over…and his name is Elisha.
And instead of retired, Elijah came out of that cave refired, restored and ready to work for the Kingdom.
“So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you?’ So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant” (1 Kings 19:19-21).
Elisha’s Moment of Destiny
When Elijah found Elisha working in the field, he removed and threw his mantle on the shoulders of Elisha without saying a word. Elisha’s mantle was a cloak, or outer garment, which symbolized his prophetic authority. His act was an invitation for Elisha to follow Elijah, become his disciple, and grow into his prophetic authority. And ultimately, it was an invitation by God to leave the mundane life he was living and experience the destiny God had designed for him. But notice, when God calls us into a destiny designed for us, He doesn’t beg, doesn’t command – He invites.
Leave your 12 yoke of oxen, drop your fishing nets, sell everything you have, pick up your cross and come follow me! It requires that you voluntarily go all in, in full devotion to Christ, no matter what the cost or what you must leave behind. It requires you to recognize your divine moment, and step out in faith.
Don’t miss your moment!
1. Believe That God’s Got Something Better
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that God’s plan is greater than the labels you were given as a child, and greater than the cynicism setting in as you get older. And greater than the shame that binds you to a godless past, and the betrayal that you suffered at the hands of people you trusted.
God’s plans are greater than the dreams you once had for yourself; and they’re greater than even the greatest moment you’ve experienced thus far!
Elisha’s Ho-Hum Life
There was nothing glamorous about Elisha’s life. On the surface, it looked like so many of ours, stuck in daily routine and mediocrity. When Elijah first saw him, he was just a guy plowing a field behind 12 yoke of oxen.
It was backbreaking, physically demanding work. Every day, Elisha would be covered in his own sweat, and caked in dust and dung. And though his job may have lacked glamor, at least it was a consistent, stable job that paid the bills.
For many, it would have been a “good-enough” life – exactly the reason it’s so hard for some people to drop everything, go all in and experience God’s greater plan for them. Sometimes it is the blessings from God we have today that stop us from seizing the very best from God tomorrow. Truly, the enemy of the greater life is a good life.
God had been watching Elisha and noting his humility and faithfulness, day in and day out. And God talked to Elijah, miles away, about His plans for this young man to learn and take on the role of Elijah’s successor, as God’s prophet to the nation of Israel. In a moment when Elisha least expected it, God showed up with an invitation to seize his divine moment and be launched into his pre-determined destiny!
What’s my point? Even now, as some of you are stuck behind the oxen butts of life, resigned that you will spend the rest of your years behind the plow in miserable mediocrity, you Father is orchestrating a divine moment to come walking into your life. But it will require you to believe, go all in, and embrace the greater life He is inviting you to. Isn’t that the promise of John 10:10?
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
2. Be Sensitive to the Leading of the Holy Spirit
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart” (Proverbs 20:27).
God’s direction for your life – your “go” and your “no,” your “seize it” and your “step away from it,” all comes from the Holy Spirit within you.
In practical terms, it means we must learn to follow His leading within, follow our instincts, obey the unction, and listen to the inner calling or whisper in our souls. It means we must tune into the inner voice which speaks.
Some people get concerned about this, because they feel like their hearts will lead them astray. But when you are born again, and are all in with your commitment to God, you can trust what is in your heart.
But the key is, you must be “all in.”
When you are fully committed in your relationship with the Lord, His voice will be louder than the voice of your flesh. When you are all in, your desires will not be your own selfish desires, but they will reflect the desires that God has placed within you.
The Scripture states this plainly:
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
The word “desire” here literally means “of the father,” not of the flesh, but of the Father. And it literally means God will plant desires in you that you can trust and follow.
The key is, are you delighting? Are you all in? Or are you casual toward Christ?
3. Commit an Act of “Spiritual Arson”
“And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ And he said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you?’ So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant” (1 Kings 19:20-21).
Elisha recognized the importance of his moment and did three things to seize it:
He kissed his family good-bye – Elisha publicly said goodbye to the life he knew to gain the life God had for him.
He had a neighborhood barbecue – He slaughtered his oxen as a ceremonial sacrifice celebrating this significant, defining moment in his life.
He burned the plow equipment – He destroyed the tools necessary for his professional trade, ensuring there was no going back. And to God it was an act of unbridled faith.
Elisha’s final days at home were a testimony to all: I’m seizing my divine moment! I’m cutting ties with everything that can pull me back, removing the safety net. I’m betting on God and going all in. I’m believing the life He has designed for me is greater than the life I have made for myself.
4. Understand God’s “Non-Instant” Gratification
Elisha then served the prophet Elijah for six years before being personally used by God in a single miracle, or being recognized by anyone as Israel’s new prophet.
I believe this delay is why more believers don’t step into their divine moment. We are conditioned to want everything now, but “all in” doesn’t always produce instantaneous results.
When what we do does not produce the results we want right away, too often we pivot to whatever will give it to us now. In the process we lose out on the life God had designed for us to have. It’s an indictment against a cultural-based Christianity; it is not how God works and is rarely the way a divine moment works!
Divine moments are invitations by God for Him to use your life in a greater way. They are not the end goal, but the beginning of a life dedicated to God. They are the doors to our destiny which require us to submit to a time of preparation for the tasks He has assigned to us.
Can you be faithful to God while you are waiting, serving another ministry, and watching God do miracles for others? Can you still burn your plow and go all in, even if there is no instant gratification for doing so?
If you don’t know that divine moments are not always followed by instant gratification, then you will not stay all in long enough to see the life God has designed for you. You will quit in frustration and disappointment and will return to casual, comfortable, convenient Christianity and miss out on all God has.
Trust me, it’s a test – not to disappoint you, but to deepen your dependence on God. He will make sure you can handle the miraculous destiny He planned. And when your time comes, you will certainly succeed!
“This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place” (Habakkuk 2:3).
After six years of preparation, it happened for Elisha: that divine moment he seized, when he burned his plow and went all in for God, turned into a life of miracles! God is faithful.
Friends, don’t miss your moment! Not so you can have fame, fortune, or a fabulous life. Go all in so you can experience a life of incomparable gratification, and a life lived for the glory of God!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Zbynek Pospisil
