I have been studying Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings to prepare for an upcoming Bible Study I will be teaching this fall. One thing that has hit me more than words can express is 1 Kings 19:19, 20 “So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you?” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
There are so many things to learn from these two verses that are so important for us today. The first point we see is that Elisha came from a wealthy family. We know this because he had twelve pairs of oxen that were being used to tend to the family farm. However, even though he came from a wealthy family, Elisha was out in the field putting his hand to the plow. He did not believe in being served, he believed in being a servant.
When Elijah threw his mantle on him, Elisha understood the symbolic application behind this and he immediately left the oxen and ran after Elijah. The second point we must see here is that Elisha received the call on his life while he was in his everyday work. So many times we expect to hear or see something “magical” when God calls us into the path that He has chosen for us. We expect to hear some audible booming voice coming down from the Heavens telling us what we are suppose to be doing. But in all reality, we are missing that soft still voice who is directing us in our everyday walk. How many times has God “called us” during our everyday life experiences and we didn’t hear it or see it because it wasn’t in the way we thought it should look?
Elisha didn’t hesitate or ask for a confirmation or doubt what he saw, he immediately ran after Elijah and asked permission to go back to his family and say good-bye. This is acknowledging that he is breaking from his past and stepping into the destiny that God had for him. This leads me to point number three. How many times do we get direction from the Lord but we are unwilling to break free from the past experiences in our life or break free from our natural tendencies? Ouch! I don’t know about you but this one hurts! Talk about a knife right to the heart of things. I know there are things in my life that the Lord is dealing with me so that He can transform me into the woman that I need to be for the call that He has placed on my life. To be point blank honest, that hurts sometimes. Sometimes it is scary and downright painful but in the end, being a disciple of Christ is far worth more than anything else on this earth.
This leads me to point number four. When Elijah threw his mantle on Elisha, this symbolized the passing of the anointing that was on Elijah. However, this did not mean that Elisha didn’t have to undergo some discipleship!!! Elisha had the unbelievable experience to take what he learned on the farm, being a servant, and apply it to being a servant to Elijah. Elisha was under the wing of Elijah and he was able to watch and learn from the man of God directly. What does this mean for us? God may call us but we will always have a time of training and learning from others. Take every bit of it and learn everything you can.
I thank God for my five years of being under Sally Hall during my time of serving within Truth for Women. These years were priceless as I watched and learned from a woman who was devoted to God. She taught me how to stand on the Word of God no matter what. She taught me how to grow as a leader and as a disciple of Christ. She taught me to learn from my mistakes and allow the Lord to mold me and change me. All that time was a training ground for today when I would take on the “mantle” of Truth for Women.
My question to all of you is “Are you willing to be an Elisha in this time? Are you willing to break free from your past and immediately step into a time of discipleship so you can be trained for the call on your life?”
