Love On A Deeper Level

2 Kings 8: 1-3 -  Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years."  So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.  It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land.

 

Elisha was a very busy prophet….calling on the power of God wherever he went. He was anointed to channel the love of God to do great things for the people he was sent to.  This time Elisha went to someone from his past… to warn her of the famine to come...and tell her it would be better for her if she went to live in another country for the next seven years. She trusted this man who had saved her son…but risked losing everything she owned.

 

It was no accident that she returned to town the exact day the miracle Elisha had carried out for her son was being discussed at the king’s palace.  It was her great pleasure to be a witness to the events that had brought her son back to life.  And as a result the king reestablished her home and land….he even paid her for the crops that had been harvested on her property from the last seven years.

 

God establishes relationships in our lives for a reason.  We are called to build them into lasting bonds that commit us to caring for each other in times of crisis. The emotions we feel bind us not to just their present smile….but the very heart that beats inside.  We are drawn to care for them…no matter where they are…or what God has called any of us to do. 

 

It is a call for me to take more time with each person that crosses my path….to build a relationship that is lasting…that has emotional connections.  It is those emotional…personal feelings of love that will help my heart remember to lift them up in prayer…or hear the spirit guide me to help them in some way.  I have many acquaintances….some I know well…and some I need to get to know better….so I can begin to call them friends.

 

Father….thank you for this story that helps me understand that you have called me to love everyone that you have placed in my life on a deeper level.  Show me how to care like your son Jesus cared…for the simple needs in people’s lives.  Teach me how to be like Elisha…and remember the people who have cared for me in same way…so I can care for them when they need it. Amen.