Title: God Who Makes Things
2 Kings (7) The God of the Work
(2 Kings 3:18-27)
< God who gives bonuses >
After hearing Elisha's command to dig a lot of streams, the three kings obeyed. How did it go? It was late in the night and after midnight, nothing happened. Even in the morning, not much had changed. But as the sun rose and morning came, history appeared. That is, at the time of morning prayer, a miracle appeared and water began to overflow into the valley (verse 20).
The water didn't just choke the soldiers, but something even more surprising. In other words, when the morning sun shone on the water flowing into the valley, the water looked red and bloody. Then the Moabites came to plunder, thinking they were blood that the Allied Israeli forces had killed each other and came to plunder, but they were greatly defeated. What the Israeli soldiers expected was to choke their throats with water, but God allowed them to win even the war by throwing them away. Oftentimes, an internal problem is solved, followed by a bonus that an external problem is also solved.
If you believe and obey, God is a God of bonuses that overflows beyond expectations. Therefore, God often sees obedience before giving grace. When He healed the blind, He didn't just heal them, but after making mud with saliva, He said, "Go to the pool of Siloam and wash." If he had given up at that time as shameful, the blind man would not have been healed.
Show your faith to obey the Word even when it is difficult and difficult and the situation is unfavorable. Even if you want to stop praying because you are too busy and tired, if you keep praying before the Lord, He will give you abundant grace. Even if you are in debt now, if you continue to give thanks and give thanks, God will pour out grace and blessings abundantly on your obedient faith when you embrace the people you hate and hate as you say and extend your warm forgiveness.
< God who makes things happen >
So, victorious in the battle of the valley, he pursued the fleeing enemy and advanced into the territory of Moab (verse 24). And he struck down the cities of Moab, and threw stones at them, and filled all the good fields, filled up all the springs, and cut down all the good trees, and devastated Moab (verse 25). At that time, the king of Moab felt that the tide of the war had completely turned, and he wanted to break through the siege and go to the king of Edom with seven hundred men full of swords, but could not (verse 26).
Why would the king of Moab go to the king of Edom, who had joined the alliance with Israel? It is probably because Edom, a vassal of Judah, felt sympathy for him as he was trying to get out of the vassal state, and he thought that it would open up a way for him to live to some extent. But when the escape to Edom was also prevented, the king of Moab brought his firstborn son and offered a burnt offering to Chemosh, the god of Moab, on the city wall. It is a terrible ritual performed to relieve the wrath of God and obtain favor. Seeing the scene, great anger arose among the men of Israel's camp, ending the war, and the kings of the three countries returned to their homeland with their soldiers (verse 27).
Why did he suddenly end the war and return home? When the Moabite king saw his son burned to death as a burnt offering, the Moabites may have rushed in desperately, tired of the sight, and retreated. Or, the king of Moab's spirit of sacrifice may have led him to retreat, thinking, "If we strike this country, we will receive the wrath of God!" In any case, the northern Israeli-led conquest of Moab ended in failure. No matter how well people plan, God is the one who gets things done. Therefore, always try to live according to the will of God.
If we live according to God's will, the voices of heaven will be heard loudly, God's hand will be visible in the midst of problems, and opportunities will be seen in the midst of crisis. You will also have a brilliant vision in God. Why is the filling of the Holy Spirit important? This is because when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will have a brilliant vision in our faith. What is spiritual training? It is to make God's will become one's will and God's vision to become one's vision.
No matter how desperate the situation, if you are in the will of God, you can live happily. The problem is not a matter of living well or not, nor a matter of success or failure. It is important to live according to the mission within the will of God. No matter how successful you are, if you lose your mission, you are unhappy, but even if you seem to have failed, if you are in God's will and mission, you will have a happy life. That happiness will sooner or later appear in the clothes of blessing.
You don't have to go to a special place to solve the problem. The field of listening to the Word and praying humbly is the field of God's presence. The fact that God moved us to pray is proof that God already has a wonderful blessing plan for us. Therefore, always dig many fountains of the Word and prayer in God's will. Nothing can be done with the power and plan of man alone. No matter how elaborate a person's plans are, in the end it is God who accomplishes the work.