Today, I want to talk to those who might be spiritually stuck in your faith. You feel like your faith and spiritual life have become stagnant. You don’t feel like you are moving forward in your faith and if you are you feel like you are moving at a snail’s pace. You feel like your spiritual life is missing something. Yet, there is this part of you that desires more spiritual growth and more spiritual passion and more spiritual impact. Yet, what you are experiencing is more of the same and more of what you just had. You feel like you are going through the routine spiritually, but nothing is really happening. For some of you, you may feel like you’re living below who you know that God created you to be. And it’s not that you don’t care, you actually do care. Some of you have been like me at different seasons of my life where you are genuinely praying and seeking God, but your prayers don’t really feel effective. Or you are reading the Bible, and you want to hear from God but sometimes His voice just seems distant. And sometimes, you are worshipping God and you really want to feel His presence, but you just can’t seem to feel Him. This is when you feel like you are just PLOWING through life. Someone just say, “I’m just plowing.”
If you feel spiritually stagnant, I honestly believe that this series could genuinely be life-changing for you. I’m hoping that some of you will look back and say, “During this time, this series, God worked in my life in a way that made me completely different.” Hopefully this series will spring you forward into something new and something fresh.
What we are going to do is study the Old Testament prophet Elisha, a guy who was in his early 20s and he was stuck plowing through life. Literally, that was his job. He was plowing on the family farm every single day, working the same fields, same dirt, same job, day after day. But little did he know, just like for many of you, God had something really special for him. When he was plowing through life, God saw more in him than just a guy working on a farm. In fact, this ordinary guy became one of the greatest prophets in all of the Bible. And yet, he spent years stuck behind a plow. In a very similar way, for some of you, you may feel stuck right now spiritually or you feel stuck in life, stuck behind the same old plow. Your life is very routine, very predictable, very safe, and it doesn’t feel like it is headed anywhere or accomplishing much. You are just plowing through life.
The Mantle
I’m going to give you a statement that won’t make a whole lot of sense to you now. But as we go through the message this statement will make more sense. Listen carefully, God has a mantle with your name on it, and a calling bigger than the field you’re currently in. When I say mantle, what am I referring to? A mantle is an important role or responsibility that passes from one person to another. I am talking about a spiritual mantle.
A spiritual mantle refers to a supernatural “cloak” that God places on an individual to fulfill a significant purpose or task. It signifies a divine trust bestowed with spiritual wisdom and authority, often involving specific responsibilities and abilities meant for personal service and growth. It represents a calling or ministry given to individuals by God. It is typically handed down from one person to another.
Setting the Scene
We are about to meet Elisha, a person that God is about to give a spiritual mantle and purpose and calling too. But let me set the stage and let me set the scene. We meet Elisha in 1 Kings 19.
1 Kings was written in a very critical time in Isreal’s history. That season was much like our world today. In that time in history people were ignoring God. They were living immorally and they were worshipping false gods.
Does that sound familiar? Does that describe our day? What does God do in critical times? In critical times, God raises up spiritual leaders. In critical times in your school, God may raise you up to be a spiritual leader. In a critical time in your family, when your family is hurting or drifting spiritually, God may call you up to be a spiritual leader. In our community and in our culture, whenever times are critical, God raises up spiritual leaders.
In critical times, God may place a mantle on you and give you specific responsibilities and specific authority and specific influence to make a divine difference. Today, God may be placing a mantle on you to make a specific difference in someone life or a group of people’s lives.
During Israel’s critical time, the first prophet God raised up was the prophet Elijah. Some people call him the power prophet, because he called fire from heaven and he stood boldly in opposition against wicked kings. At the end of Elijah’s life, God used Elijah to call Elisha to continue the work of God. In a similar way, God may use me to stir something in you to call you out of where you are into a spiritual calling to do even more.
Maybe God is placing a spiritual mantle on you to be that woman of God that impacts some ladies who are drifting from God or who need guidance to stay faithful to God. Maybe God is placing a mantle on you to be that man of God who impacts those around him on a daily basis for the glory of God.
Plowing a Field
Let’s dive into God’s Word. Here we go. 1 Kings 19:19. Here is the beginning of our story for today. So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. [I’m so glad my name was not Shaphat (shay-fat). Here comes Shaphat who is Sophat. So Elisha, the son of Shaphat is doing what? He is plowing a field] There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. We are looking at every detail that God is giving us in His word. What can we find and what is important about this? Elijah went over to him [Elisha] and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away.
What do we know about Elisha? We know that he worked on a farm. The farm was owned by his dad. His family was wealthy. If you had one pair of oxen to work the field you could make a living, but if you have twelve pair of oxen working the fields you had a large amount of land and you had a major farming operation. It’s like if you have one tractor to plow the land, you can get a lot done and make a living, but if you have twelve tractors to plow the land… well that is a different level of farming. We know that he didn’t go to seminary or some Bible college. He was not professionally trained to be a minister or anything like that. Also, Elisha was not the typical rich kid. He is not sitting by the pool while the hired hands are working, but he is out in the fields by a pair of oxen plowing in the heat of the of day. He is working.
I want you to think about what is going on here during this season of Elisha’s life. He gets up early in the morning, goes and gets his team of oxen, and goes out to the field and plows all day long. He is doing this day after day after. He has done this for a few years already. His scenery all day are two big oxen rearends. I’m not trying to be crude, but he has to watch where he steps and he has to deal with smell. Day after day, he is stuck behind these oxen.
Some of you are saying, “Ok Jeff, you are describing my life right now.” I’m just plowing away, day after day.”
- I’m studying every day for another test,
- hitting another sales quota every single day,
- clocking in and clocking out at work,
- staring at a computer screen all day,
- making another meal,
- changing another diaper,
- doing another load of laundry,
I’m just plowing through the day and plowing through the week. I get up and do it over again day after day. It’s easy to lose your passion when you are staring at oxen butts day after day or standing in the same place in a factory, or looking at a pile of laundry week after week. It’s easy to wonder, where is God in all this? Where is my spiritual calling? Where is my purpose? When you are doing the same thing over and over and over again day after day after day, you can lose your focus, your passion, and your calling. During those seasons of life, you can feel very stagnant and stuck in life. Listen carefully, it is in the monotony of life you often discover your mission for life.
The 12th Team
Look at verse 19 again, So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team (NLT). Notice which team Elisha was with? He wasn’t with the 1st team, nor the 2nd team, nor the 3rd team. He was with the twelfth team. He was at the back of the line. And so, Elijah walks past the first team, the second team, the third team, the fourth team, the fifth team, the sixth team, the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh team, and finally comes up to Elisha on the twelfth team. All the way to the last one in line. Why did he go to the last one in line? Have we ever seen that before when they were choosing the king?
We know that God often chooses the one at the back of the line. Which is really interesting, because Jesus, if you look at the New Testament, taught us that the least of these would be the greatest, those who are last would actually be first, which is really good news for someone who feels stuck at the back of the line. If you feel overlooked, if you feel left out, if you feel undervalued at the back of the line, I want you to know that God sees you and God values you and God loves you, and God will use you, because God doesn’t choose people like people choose. What do we do? We just look at the outside. Man looks at the outside, but God looks past that to see what’s on the inside. When everyone else looked they just saw a rich kid behind a plow looking at oxen butts all day long. But God saw something more in this kid. God saw the potential of a prophet yet to be discovered.
There may be somebody here right now. You feel stuck, you feel alone, you feel desperate. You feel like it’s just more of the same, you are just plowing through life, but God sees more in you.
- Everyone else sees a young mom exhausted, changing diapers, and God sees a world changer, someone raising the next generation of spiritual leaders who will stand strong against the forces of this world and be a light for the glory of Jesus.
- Everyone else see some Christian college student, but God sees someone will shine one day and one day into a boardroom and all over the world, a future leader for Jesus.
- Everyone else sees a grandparent who is investing in their grandkids, praying for them, being a loving example, making them feel valued and heard and seen.
God is not looking at what everyone else sees. God is not looking for the sharpest or the best, God is not looking for just ability, but availability. Someone who will say, “Yes, God. I am available. I’m willing. I’m ready. I will do what you call me to do. I will be faithful with what you give me.”
Conclusion
Remember, in critical times, God raises up spiritual leaders. Are you available to be one of them? Are you available to rise up and be a spiritual leader in your home? A spiritual leader in your school? A spiritual leader in your church? A spiritual leader in your work place? Maybe in this room or online is a future national leader, are you available to God to step up and be that leader?
Remember, it is in the monotony of life you often discover your mission for life. Elisha was in the middle of a field plowing when God shows up and gives him his mission for life. Matthew was working behind his desk collecting taxes when Jesus showed up and gave him his mission for life. Peter was working at his fishing business when Jesus showed up and gave him mission for life. In a similar way, God will do the same thing with you.
Remember, God often chooses the one at the back of line. Elisha was on the 12th team at the back of the line. David was the last one to be considered to be king. Jesus said the last shall be first. You may feel like you are at the back of the line. You may feel like you have been overlooked and forgotten, but God sees you and He is sending someone into your life to give you a mission for life.
Remember, God is not looking for just ability, but availability. He is looking for someone to say “Yes!” when He calls. He is looking for someone to say, “Send me!” He is looking for availability. Are you available to God? Are you ready to say yes to God?
Finally, remember that God has a mantle with your name on it, and a calling bigger than the field you are currently in. Right now, you may feel like you are plowing through life but God has an important role and responsibility for you to accomplish in His kingdom and in the world. Be patient. Be available. Say yes when He calls!
