3 things to do before the title problem
3 things to do before the 2 Kings (6) problem
(2 Kings 3:15-17)
During the reign of King Jehoram, the ninth king of northern Israel, Moab, a vassal state from David's time, betrayed him. Then King Jehoram formed an alliance with Jehoshaphat, the fifth king of southern Judah, and the king of Edom, a vassal of southern Judah, and set out to conquer Moab. At that time, they took the difficult route south of Moab and advanced for seven days, when the water ran out. To solve the problem, the three kings look for Elisha. When Elisha met the three kings, he wanted to ignore the problem when he thought of King Jehoram, but he thought of the faithful king Jehoshaphat and set out to solve the problem.
Elisha said, “Call me a harp rider” (verse 15). He must have called a harp rider to calm down the confused surroundings and bad feelings toward King Jehoram, and to immerse himself in the sound of the harp and communicate deeply with God. If your heart is troubled, the Spirit of God cannot come on you powerfully. When a husband persecutes, even a faithful wife will feel resentment. When those emotions cover the heart like a mist, spiritual communication is blocked. At that time, if you listen to the quiet praise, your heart will be opened and your heart will be purified, and you will often experience communion with God.
In particular, the string of the harp symbolizes our relationship with God. Sometimes, as the strings of a guitar are broken, as we live our lives, the lines of human relationships are broken and the lines of business, material things, and health are cut off. Still, as long as one line doesn't break, a wonderful reversal of life is possible. That one line is the connection with God. The biggest problem in life is the problem that arises in our relationship with God. The internal belief problem is a bigger problem than the external environmental problem. A difficult crisis becomes a new opportunity if you use the problems approaching your life as an opportunity to hold on to God more.
2. Refine yourself
As Elisha requested, a harp player came and played the harp. Hearing the sound of the harp, the hearts of the people there were moistened with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Before the spring broke out in the dry valley of Edom, a fountain of grace broke out in the hearts of the withered soldiers. In the same way, only when the fountain of grace bursts within ourselves first, we can overcome our problems and win the battle of life. After all, the most important thing in life is to refine yourself in the faith.
One day, a young man had a big dream and prayed. "God! Make me a person who changes the world!” Years passed, and when the young man turned 40, he changed his prayer topic. "God! Transform me first!” At the same time, whenever I saw problems in the world, I tried to reflect on myself and change the small parts of my life that I needed to change one by one. By changing language, changing facial expressions, and changing habits, he gradually became an influential person.
The magnitude of the effort to change yourself is proportional to the magnitude of the influence that changes others. Therefore, “God! Change me!” is a prayer more blessed than any other prayer. The essence of our religious life depends on “how much God pleases?” rather than “how great are you doing?” Therefore, always make sure that your thoughts, plans, dreams, and prayers are in harmony with God's will. When you first seek a change of heart before asking for a change in the environment, and refine your heart with faith, problem solving and prayers will be answered quickly.
3. Don't give up
The situation of the dry valley in the text is reminiscent of the current situation of the Korean church. Now, many church members have lost their brilliant dreams, visions and challenging spirit. We lost our belief that we are blessed because we were greedy and pursued for blessings, and we lost faith that there are miracles because we did not get miracles while pursuing miracles. God is a God who gives blessings and miracles. Who do you give blessings and miracles to? It is not given to those who persistently pursue blessings and miracles, but it is given to those who persistently pursue God.
Believe that God will provide water, and he told them to dig a lot of streams (verse 16). It means to believe in God's grace, blessings, and miracles, look only at God, and do not give up and challenge. Once you have prayed with a certain prayer topic, do not give up on the challenge of fulfilling that prayer topic. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “What do you mean, if it is possible? There is nothing impossible to him who believes.” Keep challenging yourself with brilliant dreams and visions. Don't give up just because you failed once, as if that single failure was forever.
Although Jehoshaphat was a king who relied on God, he sometimes made bad political decisions. Still, God looked at the heart of Jehoshaphat and filled the stream with water dramatically. The figure of Jehoshaphat is the figure of us. No one is perfect in this world. Therefore, do not give up hope and devotion because of someone, and above all, do not give up your brilliant dreams and vision because of your lack of appearance. Even if we have many shortcomings, God looks at our heart, not our actions, and He will grant us abundant grace and blessings.