What Will You Do With The Time You Have Left?

As you get older, hopefully you gain a different perspective on how life really works. When we are 18-20 we think we can do anything and that anything is possible, which is true but with a catch. What you don’t know is how much those ideas and potential dreams will cost you or the challenge of what you will need to sacrifice in order for those dreams and ideas too manifest.

When and if we get wise enough to gain a new perspective of how life works, we should see more clearly what and how we should invest our time, talent and resources.  I hate to say it, but from my experience, many people never make the grade of changing how they think because they just can’t face the truth about life. Many people just learn to get by and try not to risk what they already have gained.

There is a fascinating story about how Elisha, one of the great Old Testament prophets, faces his own sickness and eventual death, even though he had, by the hand of God, preformed many outstanding miracles in his lifetime.  As we age, I think there are times in our lives when we realize more than ever that we are not in control of miracles and supernatural events as much as we thought. We may have openly confessed the miracles we participated in were all of God and yet the reality of those words have more meaning when we see that even a great prophet like Elisha could get sick and not pray away his sickness.

2 Kings 13:14                                                                                                                                                                                             When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

So, Elisha is realizing his time is short as speaks prophetically one last time to the king of Israel. Many might feel it’s not fair to have such a sickness when they have served God’s purposes on the earth so faithfully and yet this was the case. I have seen self-pity captivate great servants of God’s heart when sickness and circumstances overwhelm the person.  In such a case, if we are not grounded like Elisha was, in the character of God, we can lose our footing in our walk of faith. We all have know believers who started out well only to crash and burn in their faith when a crisis happens to them.

So Elisha, speaking prophetically, tells the king to take up a bow to shoot some arrows and then Elisha lays his hand on the king’s hand. Even as Elisha is heading toward certain death personally, he invests his faith in the king to help him capture his future. We could learn a valuable lesson from Elisha that even when we might be sick we can still pray for those who are sick around us, and God may move supernaturally. I think these time are often a test of our resolve to minister even in our weakness.

2 Kings 13:15-16                                                                                                                                                                                       Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 

Erwin McManus, one of my favorite authors, wrote a book on this particular passage of scripture, as he was struggling with cancer. He didn’t know if he would live or die and wrote this profound statement concerning giving your last ounce of faith even when you face death.

        “I am not saving anything for the next life.”

The book is entitled “The Last Arrow” and he does an outstanding job on unpacking God’s truth from this event.

Next, Elisha instructed the king to open a window and to shoot the arrows towards a nation that had oppressed Israel for year. It was an ancient custom to shoot an arrow or cast a spear into the country which an army intended to invade.  Though this simple illustration, the prophet was setting up the king to overcome in the spirit what he was unable to do in the natural.

2 Kings 13:17-18                                                                                                                                                                                             He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them. ” [18] Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped. 

Here is a major life lesson to consider. When a prophet speaks a word to us don’t just take that word at face value and respond accordingly but consider what is not being said in that word. Most prophetic words in scripture are subject to the recipients response and choices. In other words, they are conditional. If we add to or detract elements of that word, the word often becomes null and void and never materializes. In this particular case, the king “assumed” how many arrows to shoot and he got Elisha angry. It is not a good idea to get a prophet angry when he holds a key to your future!

2 Kings 13:19-20                                                                                                                                                                                             So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”                                                                          [20] Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. 

Elisha pursued the will of God right up to the end, even when he didn’t receive his own healing. The king, on the other hand, was short sighted regarding how he pursued the Lord and his will.

As a personal note in closing, I turn 70 very shortly and have had a number of setbacks in my health. The other day I saw my spine surgeon and he informed me my spine is fusing the joints together and soon my ability to bend will be greatly limited along with a struggle with chronic pain.  It is not the kind of news I wanted to hear. When I went into the lobby I saw so many old people just going from one doctor to another as they held onto what little life they possessed. As I left, I told the Lord I wanted to go out serving his purpose to the end. I wanted to finish my race strong by serving the purposes of God and not getting trapped with regret or pity.

Let me leave you with this thought and challenge:

1. We don’t serve the purposes of God because he does things our way. We, on the other hand, need to desire to do things his way.
2. We trust the character of God as revealed in his word regardless of the outcome of our struggle, whether related to health, money, relationships or opportunities.
3. We don’t trust our own perception of what is or is not happening but rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us in our decisions and choices.

Proverbs 3:5-7                                                                                                                                                                                        [5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. [6] In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. [7] Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

Pastor Dale