One thing I know about every single one of you is, you need God. Whether you know it or not, you need His presence. And because you need Him, you need something from Him. Some of you, it’s a miracle in your marriage. You need him to show up and bring healing in your marriage. Some of you, you need God’s presence as a parent as you train and guide your child through middle school and high school. For some of you, it’s a miracle in your finances, you need help and provision from heaven. For some of you, it’s a miracle in your body, that the report is not good, and you need a touch from the healer in heaven. For some of you right now, you are an emotional mess. You are anxious, overwhelmed, worried, afraid, depressed, or angry. You need a peace from heaven that only God can give. Some of you, you need God’s presence at work and in your daily life and routine.
The truth is, you need the presence of God, and you need something from God. Today, I want you to listen to this message through the filter of what you need from the Father. And you might discover something that would surprise you, this very powerful and very personal truth: Your greatest need becomes a gift when it drives you to depend on God. Let me say it again, your greatest need becomes a gift when it drives you to depend on God.
Three Kings against One
We are in a message series on the Old Testament prophet, Elisha. And today, we are going to look at a powerful story in 2 Kings 3. And whenever we look at God’s Word, we always want to understand the context.
If you were with us last week, we actually saw Elijah call Elisha, and Elisha burned the plows and sacrificed the ox, saying, “There’s no plan B, I’m going to follow God with all of my heart.” This week we are going to fast forward about 5 years into Elisha’s ministry and calling. Over those five years he has been learning and growing spiritually as a prophet. Elijah has already been called up to heaven. Elisha has already developed a great reputation as a prophet of God.
In that world, much like today, there was a lot of chaos. I’m going to give you the context. For years, Moab had paid taxes to the king of Israel. And one day, the king of Moab, who was an evil king, said, “To heck with them taxes. I’m not paying those taxes anymore.” When he decided to stop paying the taxes to Israel three kings came together and joined forces. It was Jehoshaphat, he was the king of Judah, the king of Israel, and the King of Edom. These three kings joined their troops to go and attack Moab.
So the odds are good, “There’s three nations against one. Three kings against one. Three armies against one. This is going to be an easy battle. Three against one is going to triumph without any problem.” They expected to win easily, but things didn’t go as planned.
Things don’t go as planned
How many of you would agree that life rarely goes as planned? On the way to attack the Moabites, the troops actually ran out of water, massive problem. Look with me at 2 Kings 3:9, The king of Edom and his troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days. But there was no water for the men or their animals” (NLT). So, here is the context. The king of Edom and his army, the king of Israel and his army, and the king of Judah and his army all join forces together and they are on the march toward Moab. Along the way they ran out of water. There was no water for the soldiers or the animals. You can only live for about 3 days without water. So this is a crisis. This is a major problem. This is a desperate situation. They are in trouble.
What Should We Do?
Then verse 10, “What should we do?” the king of Israel cried out. Now that is a good and logical question. You are in a crisis and a good question to ask is, “What should we do?” What should I do? That’s a good question.
- Your marriage is falling apart, what should we do?
- Your kids are struggling, what should we do?
- Your ministry is not succeeding, what should we do?
- Your health is failing, what should we do?
- You are running out of money, what should we do? You are anxious and afraid, what should we do?
From Bad to Worse
Look at the assessment by the king of Israel. He says, “The Lord has brought the three of us here to let the king of Moab defeat us” (NLT). He is already thinking defeat. Instead of thinking this is an opportunity for God to show up, he is thinking this is a disaster and God has let us down. Instead of God showing up, God is leaving us stranded. We can’t fight without water. We can’t live without water. Looks like God has failed us.
Have you ever been there? “God, where are you? What are you doing? Why has this happened?” Have you ever noticed how quickly things can go from bad to worse in everyday life?
- Money: I mean, even in your personal life, like you know money is tight, and you are a little bit worried about it, and then the car breaks down, and rent is due. From bad to worse!
- Teenager: You find yourself with a teenager, and you know you are not that close, and you know they are struggling but one day, you find out, and you had no idea, they are experimenting with drugs. From bad to worse!
- Marriage: Your marriage isn’t great, and you know it, but suddenly things escalate, and all of a sudden, you are talking about ending the marriage. Where did this come from? From bad to worse!
- Health: You are not feeling good and you have been sick. You go to the doctor and they tell you, you have cancer. From bad to worse!
Desperation
In one moment, you think you can handle it. In the next moment, you are desperate. you think “I can’t take much more.” “God, I need water, and I need water now.” “God, I need a miracle and I need a miracle now.” “God, I need your presence, and I need your presence now.” And suddenly, you feel desperate for God. Can I just say, we are always desperate for God. We just don’t always realize it. We are always desperate for God. But here is the thing, your desperation should lead you to depend on God. When things are desperate in your life, that’s when God has an opportunity to reveal His power and glory in your life.
When you are in a desperate situation in your life, that is when we are able to learn a valuable lesson: Our desperation is often God’s preparation for His revelation. What that means is, God will often allow you to become desperate because without it you would not be looking for God’s intervention, God’s presence, or God’s power. God uses your desperation to prepare you to be able to see what God wants you to see and to reveal something to you about Himself that you need to know on an experiential level. There are some things about God you cannot know about God without being desperate for God. Listen, it is with the eyes of desperation you are able to see the deeper revelation. There are some things about God and about life that you can only see from a place of desperation!
Seeking God
So, after a seven-day march, there’s no water, and the troops are desperate. Now, let me give you a little spoiler alert. I’m going to tell you the end of the story. If you don’t want to hear the end of the story, put your fingers in your ears. God is going to meet their needs. God is going to show up and meet their needs.
But God is not going to do it when they expect him to, and God is not going to do it how they expect Him to do, because God has an annoying way in doing things different than we want him to do. It’s annoying to me, and I don’t like it, but for whatever reason, he is smarter than I am. His ways are higher than our ways. We don’t understand anything close to this. So, he is going to meet their needs, but not in the way they expect. Let’s see what happens next.
And in verse 11 we read this, But King Jehoshaphat of Judah asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord with us? That’s Jehoshaphat’s way of saying, “We need the presence of God on this!” Then he says, “If there is, we can ask the Lord what to do through him” (NLT). The way people heard from God back then was through God’s prophets. He would speak to them, and they would speak to the people. They didn’t have God’s Word like we do. God speaks to us through His Word by the Holy Spirit today. They didn’t have that, so they had to rely on the prophets of God to speak what God wanted to say.
Verse 11-12 goes on to say, One of King Joram’s officers replied, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to be Elijah’s personal assistant.” Jehoshaphat said, “Yes, the Lord speaks through him.” So the king of Israel, King Jehosahpat of Judah, and the king of Edom went to consult with Elisha (NLT).
Believing in God, but not Seeking God
So the three kings found Elisha and in verse 13 we see his response, “Why are you coming to me?” Elisha asked the king of Israel. “Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother!” (NLT). Here’s the issue. The king of Israel believed in God, but he had not been seeking God. He had been doing his own thing and he had allowed the pagan prophets voices to be heard more than the prophets of God. He had been listening to the world rather than God. He had been making decisions based on his own desires, rather than God’s desires. This is Elisha’s way of saying, “Why are you coming to me now? Why do you want me to call on God now? You have been worshipping other gods, but you want God now? You haven’t been worshipping him, but now you want to use Him!”
I think we are all like that sometimes. Maybe you are like that in this season of your life. There are those times when you believe in God, but you are not seeking Him. You aren’t listening to His Word, you are listening to the world. You are not listening to His directions, but your own selfish desires. You are not praying to Him, you are not talking to Him, you are not worshipping Him. You are not asking Him for guidance or what His will is on this. And then a crisis happens with your health, your marriage, your kids, your finances, your job, and now you come to Him asking Him what you should do or asking Him to bail you out of the mess you got yourself in. So you pray, “God, remember me, I haven’t talked to you in awhile, but I need you now.” They hadn’t been walking intimately with God. They have been ignoring God. They have been doing there on thing. They have been turning to other gods. All of a sudden, “Oh, yeah, God, can you help me out?”
Blaming God
Look at the king of Israel’s response in verse 13, But King Joram of Israel said, “No! For it was the Lord who called us three kings here – only to be defeated by the king of Moab! (NLT). The king of Isreal had not been worshipping God, talking to God, or listening to God. And when a crisis hit, he blamed God for it. He is saying, “God brought us three kings together only to be defeated by the king of Moab! He has done this to us. He has set us up for failure. It’s God’s fault.” Be careful here because when you are away from God, you will look down on God.
- When you are away from God, you think you don’t need God.
- When you are away from God, God becomes less important to you.
- When you are away from God, God’s Word becomes less significant and less authoritative to you.
- When you are away from God, talking to God is less appealing.
- When you are away from God, you will look down on God and you will start blaming God.
- When you are away from God, you are not interested in worshipping God.
When you are away from God, you will look down on God.
Overflow Principle
Look at how Elisha responds to the king of Israel. Verse 14 says this, Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I wouldn’t even bother with you except for my respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah (NLT). Do you know why the king of Israel is about to be blessed? Do you know why he is about to see God do something significant? Do you know why he is about to experience God’s provision and presence? It’s not because of him, but Jehoshaphat! The king of Israel is going to reap the benefits of Jehoshaphat’s relationship with God. This is what I call the overflow principle. The reason that God is about to bless these three kings and their armies is because of Jehoshaphat.
Here is what we need to learn, God will allow you to be blessed, because of someone else’s faithfulness. God will sometimes choose to bless you, protect you, or guide you because of someone else who is in your life. You may have a Jehoshaphat in your life and there are some good and wonderful things happening in your life that God has brought into your life and its because of them. They seek God, they pray, they are faithful, and they are obedient. Because of their faithfulness, you get blessed by being connected to them in some way. It’s the overflow principle.
But on the other hand, you may be the Jehoshaphat in the lives of others. God will bless the people in your life, because they are in your life! You have sought God, you have been faithful, you have prayed, you have been obedient, you are the one walking by faith and dependence on God, and because of you your family is blessed even if they are not seeking God. You bring God’s blessings into your family and into your marriage because of your faithfulness to God and your love for God.
The reason God is going to bless these three kings is because of Jehoshaphat.
- The reason God is going to bless your family is because of you.
- The reason God is going to bless your church is because of you.
- The reason God is going to bless those in your life is because of you.
When God blesses you, it overflows to those around you.
Some of you get to taste the goodness of God, not because of what you have done but because of what someone else had done. They worshipped God! They prayed! They sacrificed! They listened to God! They were obedient to God! They were faithful to God! They were humble and had a servants heart before God! Because of them, God is going to do something incredible and because you are close to them you get to experience the presence of God. That is God’s grace and mercy overflowing into your life because of someone else’s relationship with God.
Conclusion
I want to challenge you with this, Be the reason for the blessing! Be the reason why God blesses your business. Be the reason God blesses your family. Be the reason why God blesses your ministry. Be the reason God blesses your marriage. Be the reason for the blessing! This means you are going to choose to seek God, talk to God, obey God, live for God, worship God, and be faithful to God. You will choose His will and not yours. Be the reason for the blessing!
Jesus and Overflow
When you are the reason for the blessing because of your faithfulness to God, you are like Jesus. Think about it. Because Jesus was faithful to the Heavenly Father he blessed people wherever He went. God blessings overflowed from Him to the woman at the well, to the blind man, to the crippled man, the demon possessed boy, to the thousand He fed with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, and to the disciples. The greatest overflow of blessings from Jesus happened on the cross when He gave His life for you and I so that we could be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life!
