Sometimes it’s hard to tell if your life counts and if you’re making a difference in the world. I’ve mentioned before that you can do ministry right where you’re at—home, work, etc. But do you ever feel God has more in store for you, something very specific? Elisha’s life is the perfect example.
If you find yourself struggling to fulfill your propose, you need to give your life to God COMPLETELY. What do I mean by this? You can’t give God part of your life and expect the rest to work itself out. True devotion to God means giving Him all you have. Give your best in obscurity, and God will reward it openly! Living for God is something that happens even behind closed doors when no one is looking. If you only care about what you’re doing on camera when everyone is watching, you’re not living for God.
Elisha was approached by Elijah the Prophet and given the task of becoming a prophet himself. Being a wealthy man, he had a lot going for him. And while wealth is often something used in ministry, Elisha’s situation was different: “So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh…Then he went with Elijah as his assistant” (1 Kings 19:21). Couldn’t Elisha have kept his wealth and resources to support his ministry? This seems like the logical thing to do, but Elisha knew he might be tempted to turn back to his old life. He didn’t want to take that chance, so he walked away from everything in order to devote his life to God!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrew 12:1). How do you throw off anything that hinders you? For Elisha, he threw off things that MIGHT have hindered him down the road. Are there things in your life hindering you from serving God? If there are, throw them off so you can make your life count!