Finding Security

The following is an expanded version of the newsletter article from this week’s e-news.

I started a new reading plan this week from YouVersion.com, a website dedicated to various translations of the Bible and an endless source of reading plans to help in one’s devotional life. This reading plan is called “Elisha: A Tale of Ridiculous Faith”. As you can imagine, the subject of the devotions is the Old Testament prophet Elisha.

The first devotion recalls the story in 1 Kings 19:14-21 in which Elijah comes back from the wilderness and “throws his mantle” over Elisha’s shoulders one day while he is working in the field. This was a pretty significant moment because, essentially, what Elijah is doing is saying that Elisha is going to be his successor. This was no small task. Elijah was THE prophet of the Old Testament. He is the model. When Jesus and a few disciples are on the mountain for the Transfiguration, it’s Moses and Elijah that appear. Following him wasn’t going to be easy. Following a legend never is.

Elisha chases down Elijah (who just started to walk off), and says, “Let me go tell my parents good-bye.” Elijah’s response is interesting. He simply says, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” In other words, “You can go back if you like, but you better think about what’s going on here before you do.” When God’s call comes down, are we going to take some time to rest in the past, or are we going to jump on it and move forward?

Elisha does think about it, and instead of going to his parents, he starts a bonfire. He slaughters the team of oxen that were helping him plow the field, destroys the plows and has a little old-fashioned BBQ, giving out some beef to the locals. His commitment is unbelievable, and here’s what the devotional has to say about it: “Elisha shows us that to step toward your destiny, you have to step away from your security.” I’m not a big fan of the word “destiny” because it brings to mind two images: 1) Darth Vader talking with Luke Skywalker, and 2) Joel Osteen. But I get what the writer means here. In order to step towards what God is calling us to do/be, we have to be willing to leave some stuff behind.

Where do you find your security? Is it in the comforts of the past? Is it in the amount that sitting in your bank account? Is your security in the number of friends that you have? As things begin to take shape and look a little different than they have before, as changes start to set in, where are you going to find your security? Will it be in the comforts of the way things used to be? Or will it be in knowing that God has something special in mind as you make the commitment to move towards what he has in store for you?