August 30, 2023

II Kings 2: 9, 10 Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said. (NIV)

No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did.*

I wonder what Elisha thought he was asking for when he requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Did he want to be twice as good in the prophecy business as Elijah? Did he think Elijah’s spirit was divided into a hundred or so portions and he was merely – humbly - requesting only two of them? Whatever Elisha wanted, it seems that Elijah understood that a double portion of his spirit meant twice the responsibility. As it turns out, the Bible records Elisha performing twice as many miracles as Elijah did.*

A similar scene occurs in the New Testament between Jesus and an ambitious mother. In Matthew, chapter 20, we read about James and John’s mother approaching Jesus with the request that her sons be elevated to right- and left-hand men in his soon-to-be-established kingdom. Jesus told her, “You don’t know what you’re asking.” (verse 22) While Elijah was able to grant Elisha’s request for a double portion of his spirit, Jesus said that the places of prominence next to his throne were not his to bestow. What he could give them, he said, was a life of suffering and service. Not what a proud mom wanted to hear!

There is no scriptural proof that Elisha ever regretted the granting of his request. He led a full and productive life in service to God and king. Have you ever listened to the testimony of a missionary whose hardships seem unbearable – and yet he is more alive and joyful than you? It is the paradox of Jesus’ kingdom that he promises abundant life to those who choose to suffer and serve on his behalf. As Paul reminds us, in Romans 8: 18, what we suffer today is not equally matched with the glory to come.

Want the ride of your life? Ask for a double portion of the Spirit. Get in the short line to become a slave. It’s the only way to greatness!

We seek to find Christ in our vigor; but he often comes to us instead in suffering. We pursue him in success; we find him in defeat. We desire to have him meet us in exaltation; but he is frequently at the end of humiliation. We assume following him will mean gain; he is our Lord in loss. We want him with abundance; but he speaks to us in poverty. We long to be his friend in the resurrection; but in this life, he offers us the cross.*