Can God do miracles in a famine? Yes. Can God do miracles when there’s a lack of hope and faith in your life? Absolutely. He is our God, and he never ever runs out of hope, because he is the God of hope. We’re in the middle of a series called Cooking in the Bible, Stories That Will Stir Your Soul. You know, we’ve talked about Elijah with a “J” a few times on this podcast. Today we’re gonna talk about someone he mentored that has a similar name, Elisha, with an S, and we’re gonna hop right into the book of Second Kings in your Bible, kind of near the beginning, sort of heading toward the middle, and we’re gonna pick it up in chapter four. Another cooking story, because it’s the time of year where you and I are just drawn to the kitchen, right? Something good, usually pumpkin-y right now, or apple-y is baking. Oh, my friend Heidi makes these caramel apples that are just out of this world. I can only imagine what her house smells like when that caramel is bubbling on the stove.
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Transcription:
So glad you’re here for the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica and I’ve got two questions for you right off the bat: Can God do miracles in a famine? Yes. Can God do miracles when there’s a lack of hope and faith in your life? Absolutely. He is our God, and he never ever runs out of hope, because he is the God of hope. We’re in the middle of a series called Cooking in the Bible, Stories That Will Stir Your Soul. You know, we’ve talked about Elijah with a “J” a few times on this podcast. Today we’re gonna talk about someone he mentored that has a similar name, Elisha, with an S, and we’re gonna hop right into the book of Second Kings in your Bible, kind of near the beginning, sort of heading toward the middle, and we’re gonna pick it up in chapter four. Another cooking story, because it’s the time of year where you and I are just drawn to the kitchen, right? Something good, usually pumpkin-y right now, or apple-y is baking. Oh, my friend Heidi makes these caramel apples that are just out of this world. I can only imagine what her house smells like when that caramel is bubbling on the stove. Can’t think about it.
We gotta go right now to Second Kings chapter four. Here we go, we’re picking it up with verse 38. “Elisha”, the gentleman who Elijah mentored “now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, ‘Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.’ One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocket full of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous. Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, ‘Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!’ So they would not eat it. Elisha said,’ Bring me some flour.’ Then he threw it into the pot and said, ‘Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.’ And then it did not harm them.” So that was the first miracle God did in a famine in the land. You can imagine how precious that stew was and then it was poisoned. But somebody called out, and I love this, instead of Elisha! They said, Man of God, help! And Elisha, the man of God stepped up. I don’t know how God did it. I don’t know what was in the flour. I think it was a miracle, though. I know it was.
Okay, let’s move on to the second one. We’re gonna pick it up in verse 42. “One day, a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God, Elisha, a sack of fresh grain and 20 loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people so they can eat.’ ‘What?’ His servants exclaimed. ‘Feed a hundred people with only this?’ But Elijah repeated. ‘Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says: ‘Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!’ And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised.”
Oh, I don’t know about you, but these stories have just been stirring my soul. This one is especially cool because it’s a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus, right? Remember when he was here on this planet and there were several occasions, I believe, I know at least two, where he fed thousands of people with just a little. When you give something to God, he can do much with it. And I don’t know how you’re feeling, maybe you’ve got a famine of spirit today and you are dry as a bone and you just need the Lord to come and fill you, to send a miracle your way, to feed your spirit. He is able, you will find that you will actually have some left over. You’re doing the right thing right now, by the way too, by joining me to study God’s word. You know, we meet here for seven minutes or less to fill up on what’s good. There’s so much bad happening all around us. You pick up your phone and in two seconds you can have Instagram up and you can be scrolling and see horrible things, horrible news happening all the time. But when you crack open this book, even for just a few minutes, it’s like hitting F-five on your laptop, you are refreshed. Your spirit might feel like it’s in a famine, but all of a sudden, you’re feeding on the bread of life and it’s beautiful. You give God seven minutes or less and he can do a lot.
My friend Craig says, if you give God a space like you and I are doing right now, he will fill it with something meaningful. That’s powerful. So congratulations to you for setting us aside a few minutes today for the Lord your God. Let me pray for you as we close this series together. God, in Jesus’ name, we come to you. And not to be cheesy, but Lord, I just know you are always cooking up something good Lord. It’s amazing when you walk into your house and you smell something cooking, there’s that anticipation that just rises in your spirit. It’s like, oh, that pot roast is gonna be so good, so juicy, so tender. And Lord, that’s what you’re doing every day in our lives. You are working, you’re cooking miracles. You’re cooking up goodness for us and our families. And we just pause to recognize that today, to recognize that you tell us in your word that you want to fill us with good things. Lord, thank you for being there when we are dry as a bone in spirit, when there is a famine of hope in our daily thinking, Lord, would you revive us right now? We’re living in a crazy world that depletes us, but you fill us, dear Lord, by your Holy Spirit. So thank you for your presence with us today. Thank you for making something beautiful out of these few minutes. Thank you, Lord for being our bread of life. You truly nourish us. Oh, we praise you, Lord. It’s in Jesus name we pray, amen. All right, until next time, you are so loved.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at OnPurposely.com.
