Elisha: A Tale of Ridiculous Faith
Is it ridiculous to aim big? Who wants a great life or a quality marriage? Who wants to put all that effort into raising spectacular children? Everyone, right? “Give me mediocre!” demands no one ever! I don’t no a single person who aims for mediocre. We want great! We want spectacular! We hope for something worth celebrating. We want the ridiculous.
The same goes for our faith. We want God to do something amazing in our lives. We hope for miracles. We crave depth and peace. Although we may hide or deny it, deep down at our very core we yearn for God to love us and work through us. We want a faith that matters in a God that says we matter! But faith like this requires some risk. Can you imagine what could happen if we gave control of our life to God? It’s scary, but the benefits are world-altering. The story of Elisha challenges us to answer God’s calling and take the risks that are necessary to do His will.
Special thanks and credit go to Craig Groeshel and open.life.church for this message series.
Ridiculous Commitment
Mediocre plays it safe while aiming for the ridiculous requires serious risk. The famous Prophet Elijah invited Elisha to follow him, but this is no easy decision for Elisha. Powerful people want to kill Elijah. Elijah is a servant prophet, traveling and teaching. Sure, God would do the miraculous and amazing for him and through him, but to follow Elijah would be taking a huge risk.
Elisha doesn’t think twice, he cuts all ties with his past secure life (he literally burns its) and takes off to follow God’s call on his life. How does that work out for him? Besides Jesus, no one in all of Scripture records more miracles. That tough decision turned into a sixty year ministry to kings and nations. I’m sure it was hard. I bet he wondered what life would have been like if he had stayed safe on the farm. Yet, great opportunity requires ridiculous commitment. If we hope to walk toward our destiny, we must risk letting go of our security!
Do you want more than mediocre? I invite you to listen to our Sunday Rewind for May 7, 2017.
Click below to listen to our Sunday, May 7 Message at Christ Church
For Further Conversation
- Describe a time when you obeyed God even though you didn’t fully understand His direction. what resulted from your obedience?
- What examples of ridiculous commitment to God have you witnessed in your life?
- Read 1 Kings 19:19-21 Why do you think Elisha burned the oxen and plow? How do you think this decision affected his future temptation? What if he didn’t do it?
- How would you describe your trust level in God? What might be keeping you from fully trusting him? What security do you need to step away from that will allow you to step toward your destiny?
- What is God asking you to do that you need to obey immediately? What NEXT STEP with Jesus might you need to take? How can Christ Church help?
