By John Fast
Copyright, 2012
Second Kings 6 and 7 records the miraculous deliverance of the northern kingdom of
Israel from a devastating siege instigated by the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad, against
Israel’s capital city of Samaria. As a result of the siege there was widespread famine in
the city. In fact, the situation in Samaria had become so desperate that the people in the
city had begun to cannibalize their own children (6:28, 29), indicating the deplorable
spiritual condition into which the people had fallen. Samaria’s doom seemed inevitably
sealed; so much so that Israel’s King Jehoram had completely given up any hope of
deliverance, even from God. As he told the prophet Elisha, “Behold, this evil is from the
Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” (2 Kg 6:33).
While Jehoram could never be accused of being a faithful follower of God, sadly his
attitude is all too typical of many professing Christians today. We start out convinced
that God has called us to a specific task or a specific ministry, and that call has been
affirmed by other godly people and God’s own providential interventions. God gave you
the desire, He provided your giftedness which others have affirmed, and He has met all
your needs in the past. But then trials come; perhaps sustained trials which lay siege to
your life. You tough it out for a while, but then “a while” gets longer and longer. Our
resources are being depleted and there is still no end in sight. Then, when
circumstances appear to be hopeless, when all our efforts seem to lead nowhere, when
door after door is closed, when the self-denial seems to be in vain, you give up on God
and you abandon the call He placed on your life. Perhaps the cultural pressure to
provide a certain standard of living for your family becomes too great or perhaps you tell
yourself you must have been mistaken, God didn’t really call me, thereby effectively
denying all of God’s providential working in your life up to this point, or perhaps friends
have begun to question your judgment. Whatever the reason, we in essence say “why
should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
The prophet Elisha had a message for Jehoram. “Tomorrow about this time a measure
of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the
gate of Samaria” (2 Kg 7:1).In just one day the siege would be lifted and the city would
have food in abundance. What in one day seemed like a totally hopeless situation, by
the next day had been turned into a miraculous deliverance and unimaginable blessing.
One of Jehoram’s officers found Elisha’s prophecy more than a little hard to swallow
and scoffed at the very idea, “Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could
this thing be” (7:2)? Not even God was capable of ending the famine caused by the
siege, or so he thought. Things are just too bad, too far gone and hopeless. It is time to
give up on God, be practical, and face reality. As a result of his unbelief the officer
missed experiencing God’s blessing which only a day earlier seemed inconceivable
(7:19, 20).
So many Christians give up on God. In our culture that has come to demand and expect
instant results and immediate gratification, people can’t bear the siege. Most can’t even
bear the thought of a siege. Unbelief creeps in and gets the better of them, and as a
result they miss seeing and experiencing God’s ultimate blessing for their life. Just think
of the spiritual blessings God’s people have forfeited because they gave up on God.
Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years because they gave up on God.
Because people give up on God they never walk with Jesus through the valley of the
shadow of death and been comforted by His rod and staff, but instead continue to
wander in a spiritual wilderness. Think of the blessings you have missed because you
gave up on God. If God preserved and delivered His rebellious and unbelieving people,
how much more will He bless those who continue to trust in His loving faithfulness to
complete what He has begun? In one day Joseph went from being a prisoner in Egypt
to a prince in Egypt. True, in one day he also went from being his father’s favorite son to
being a victim of his brother’s jealousy and sold into slavery. And in one day he went
from being in charge of everything in Potiphar’s house to being a prisoner in Pharaoh’s
dungeon. But even all of this was in God’s perfect plan and purpose. Joseph never gave
up on God, and years later he could look back and tell his frightened and apprehensive
brothers that what they had intended for harm, God intended for the blessing of many
people. We do not know what blessings the next day may hold, and even if they don’t’
come tomorrow, we have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us, and we
have the assurance that God is for us, even in the midst of our siege. We have Jesus’
promise that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then all these other
things will be added unto us.
Trials are called such because they try our faith to determine how much it is worth, how
much dross is mixed with the gold, how much unbelief is mixed with our trust, and how
far we are willing to walk with Christ before we give up. Everyone, even unbelievers,
experience trials that are the result of living in a sin cursed world. There is nothing
inherently Christian about suffering illness, unemployment, financial loss, or the death of
a loved one courageously. The afflictions that try the faith of a Christian are not like
those which the world experiences, but those that are particularly connected with being
a follower of Christ (1 Thessalonians 3:1-4). These trials require endurance, trust, and
patient waiting (Psalm 62; James 1:2-4; Hebrews 10:32-36; 1 Peter 2:18-25; 2 Timothy
3:10-12). Since we live in a fallen world we share in the same afflictions as unbelievers,
but very few have their trust tested by trials that are a result of following Jesus’ call on
their life, and that are a result of forsaking all to follow Him. Trust is measured by
degrees. The apostle Peter is a New Testament example of this.
Peter’s trust failed twice, and both times it was because he took his eyes off of Christ,
succumbed to his fears, and gave up on Jesus. The first time was on the Sea of Galilee
when he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the wind and the waves. The second
time was in the court of the high priest at Jesus’ first Jewish trial before Annas (Jn
18:12-27) when Peter was ashamed and afraid to be identified with Jesus. Both failures
came about because Peter thought he possessed more trust than he actually did.
Spiritual pride led to Peter’s lack of trust. Confidence in his own abilities and spiritual
strength led to his spiritual failure.
We can accomplish what God has called us to do only if we acknowledge our complete
dependence on Him and His power and abandon all self-confidence in our own natural
abilities. Unbelief is an absence of trust in God. Spiritual pride is a result of trust in our
own abilities instead of God, which is really self-worship and self-idolatry. Both lead to
spiritual failure and giving up on God. Ben-Hadad’s officer suffered physical death as a
result of his unbelief. Peter on the other hand, several years after his denial of Jesus,
wrote his first epistle to the churches of Asia which at the time were facing intense
Roman persecution. In 1 Peter 4:16 he wrote, “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let
him not feel ashamed, but in that name glorify God.” If anyone knew what it was to be
ashamed of Jesus it was Peter. It was the lessons he learned from his spiritual failures
that allowed him to write three verses later, “Therefore, let those also who suffer
according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right”
(4:19). Peter had learned what it meant to entrust his soul to a faithful Creator. He
learned what it meant to really trust God, and to not give up on God, no matter how
hopeless the circumstances or how counter intuitive continuing to trust seemed. But first
Peter needed to be stripped of his spiritual pride.
Are you tempted to give up on God? Such temptation comes from two sources; unbelief
or spiritual pride, or a combination of both. When God calls us to a specific task or
ministry he also calls us to trust in Him unconditionally to provide all we need to
accomplish that ministry. Anything less will lead to spiritual failure, giving up on God,
and we might miss God’s intended blessing by just one day.