Letting Go

Read It: 2 Kings 2:2-3 (NRSV)

2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.” 

Learn It:

Elijah had been a prophet for quite a while in the land of Israel and it was time for him to be taken up into heaven.  He had been training Elisha to take his place and it was time for Elijah to be taken up into heaven.  Elisha, knowing this, follows him everywhere to try to keep him in his sight so that God won't take him up into heaven just yet.  Elisha does this 3 times in fact...see verses 2 (above), 4, and 6.  Even a prophet as wonderful as Elisha had doubts and reservations about his calling and about letting someone who had been his mentor go.

Share It:

What kind of reservations do you have about things going on in your life right now?  Are you holding onto something from the past that you need to let go?  Talk with your family about something that you might be holding on to that you know you need to let go of but can't seem to do it.  Is there anything holding you back that prevents you from fully being yourself or keeps you from doing the things that you really want to be doing?  What are they and how can you help each other work with them?  Share these thoughts and others with your family as they come up during your time together.

Live It:

Take some time this week thinking about those things that you need to let go.  Maybe it's a grudge or maybe it's something you've been mad about or sad about.  Give a prayer up to God to ask for God to take those things from you and help you to move one and let go of the thing you need to let go.  I hope as you move forward in the week that that 'thing' no longer dwells on your heart or mind.

God's Ways

Read It: 2 Kings 5:9-14 (NRSV)

 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. 

Learn It:

Oftentimes we think of God as doing mighty works and miracles and we sometimes even think that they do need to be hard or difficult for them to be real or genuine.  In this reading, however, we learn that God can work in simple and small ways.  What a wonderful thing to learn...God at work in the simple ways of life.  Sure God created the world and even destroyed it in the flood but God works in the small a simple ways of life.  Sometimes we are baffled by what God does or how God does it but we need to always remember that God's ways are not our ways.

Share It:

What are some ways that you have seen God at work in the world that were small and simple ways?  What ways have you seen God at work in mighty ways?  Would you prefer to have God ask you to do something simple or something difficult to be changed like Namaan?  Talk about these questions and other things as they come up during your share it time together.  

Live It:

Spend the week listening for God's voice and listen to how God wants you to do things.  You might be surprised at how God's ways might be simpler or easier than you think.