I'd like to ask you to take your Bibles with me this evening and turn please to 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19. I'd like to begin our reading in the 19th verse, 1 Kings chapter 19. If you didn't already receive an outline sheet on your way in this evening, I see the men are ready to come by and distribute those to you. So just wave one of them over as we look into the life of Elisha the prophet, 1 Kings chapter 19, and we'll begin our reading in the 19th verse, 1 Kings 19, beginning in verse 19. The Word of God says, so he departed thence and found Elisha. the son of Shaphat, who was plowing the 12 yoke of oxen before him, and he with the 12. And Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow thee. He said unto him, go back again, for what have I done to thee? He returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them, and boiled the flesh and the instruments of the oxen, gave unto the people and they did eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him." Now take your Bibles and turn over to 2 Kings 2, 2 Kings 2, and we'll begin our reading in verse 8. 2 Kings 2, beginning in verse 8. And we read that, "'Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, Then Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I'm taken from thee, it shall be unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. He took hold of his own clothes and he rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smote the waters and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? When he also had smitten the waters, they were parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over. As we look into God's word this evening and open in prayer, let's be praying for Anika Lefu. Anika is in Zambia, Africa, serving at Faith Children's Home, a wonderful orphan ministry for those in Zambia, for those of you who are aware of the situation in Zambia, like many of the African countries in that part of the world. It's been inundated by HIV virus, so there are many, many orphans, and Annika's on a mission trip this summer to serve the Lord there. I know we'll have other young people that'll be going out this summer. I think we should pray for each of them, but since Annika just left last week on Thursday and is there right now, we should be praying for her and also rejoicing. Many of you who are here Wednesday evening heard us ask prayer for Laura Garza, who had an aneurysm surgery. And that aneurysm surgery did very well. And we thank the Lord for her progress and for the good work the surgeons were able to do. And so we'll rejoice in that. as we pray for these this evening. Father, we do pray for Annika this summer. Help it to be a wonderful summer of service for you. I pray, Lord, that you'd allow her eyes to be open to the field and her heart to be tender to the needs, that you'd use her ministry to others and their ministry to her, that it'd be a time of growth. Keep her safe, keep her well, and bring her home rejoicing. We pray for Laura, Sister Laura and Brother Jesse. Thank you for their faithfulness. Thank you for their encouragement to our Hispanic ministry here at Colonial. We thank you for the surgery and how well it went. And now this evening, Lord, as we put our eyes on your word, may we do so with anticipation and know your blessing. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Elisha, It's not a name that's terribly common these days, and quite honestly, I find myself often when referring to Elijah and Elisha in the scriptures, getting myself confused as to which one might be which. But Elisha is a name that's wonderful before God. It means God is my salvation. The Spirit of God abruptly introduces us to this man, Elisha. He's a man that is going to live up to his name. When I say abruptly, when we come to 1 Kings chapter 19, you'll recall that Elijah has become an aging, challenging, volatile, sometimes depressed, sometimes not depressed prophet of God. And so in 1 Kings chapter 19, we're introduced to Elisha as God points to Elisha to be the successor for Elijah the prophet. In 1 Kings 19, the call of this man, Elisha, is given to us. Elisha is going to serve the Lord for more than 50 years. In his service for the Lord, he's going to do some amazing things. He's gonna be the founder of three Old Testament schools of the prophets, three Old Testament seminaries, if you will. He's gonna meet face-to-face with five of the kings who served in Judah as well as in Israel. He's gonna be the instrument of God through which more miracles are accomplished than any other person short of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. His ministry begins as an assistant prophet, assistant to Elijah, the bipolar prophet of fire. Elijah is a man whose ups and downs were rather extreme. Elisha lives in difficult times. King Ahab, after all, was on the throne with the wicked queen Jezebel by his side. They had led the children of Israel to serve idols, and the depravity of the nation of Israel had brought a terrible drought upon them, a drought that would last over three years. Elijah defended the greatness of Jehovah God. He stood out on Mount Carmel. against the mighty prophets of Baal, and God sent fire down from heaven. These were the times of Elisha. But Elisha, you recall, went from Mount Carmel down into the valley and down deeper into the Slav despond. He found himself crying out to the Lord, and the Lord's answer to his despondency was for him to have the privilege of commissioning an assistant prophet who would accomplish more than Elijah could have ever dreamed to be possible. That person whose name means, God is my salvation, Elisha is the person that we look to this evening. As we look at Elisha this evening, we look at a man who cries out as Elijah goes away, let a double portion. Of thy spirit be upon me. He desires a double portion of God's blessing. Would you desire to be doubly blessed of God? Would you desire to be used of God in a remarkable fashion? Do you want to see God's hand on your life, using you for his glory? Matthew 6 and verse 33 says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you. Can you say that with me? Matthew 6, verse 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you. God makes it a priority that we seek after him. And along the way, we find that sometimes in seeking after God, there are difficult decisions that need to be made. There are multiple crossroads that can cause our progress with God to be delayed or to be set back. Difficult decisions that all of us make, for there's no temptation taken us but such as is common to man. So we open our Bibles this evening and study the life of this man, Elisha. We see a man who finds those difficulties in the Spirit of God and conquering moves forward so that at the end of his life, he's accomplished more miracles than any person other than Jesus Christ, our Savior. By the end of his life, for 50 years, serving the Lord, laying up reward in heaven, he was a man who was seeking first the kingdom of God. He provides, if you will, a case study for everyone who would make the work of God, the will of God, their priority along the way. So will you follow with me carefully this evening? Because you may find yourself at any one of these crossroads. They're common to all of us. They can be stumbling blocks to some, causing us to pull back and not know the great blessings that God would have us to enjoy in our lives. As I opened my Bible to 1 Kings chapter 19, I discovered that Elisha is making a decision that's going to impact his family's security. It must have been a very difficult decision for him to move forward into ministry, impacting the security of his family. For we read in verse 19 that Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him, and Elijah passed by him, we read, and he cast his mantle upon him. Elisha did not go out into the field that morning expecting to meet Elijah the prophet. He did not go out in the field that morning expecting for Elijah the prophet to put his mantle on him signifying a call to full-time service for God. There's a story told about a farmer in Iowa who was out plowing one day. He wasn't doing very well with his farming. In fact, most people would say he wasn't successful at much at all. But he looked up and he saw clouds in an unusual formation. It looked like they were spelling P-C. And he pondered it. What must this mean? Surely God is trying to get my attention. Ah, he thought, it means preach Christ. So he put his plow aside and he went into the ministry. He was a terrible failure in the ministry. One day, someone pulled him aside and said to him, sir, whatever caused you to think that you could ever be involved in God's work by way of ministry? And he said, well, I was in the fields one day and I saw those letters PC, preach Christ. And the man said, you read that altogether wrong. PC meant plant corn, plant corn. Most of us don't have an immediate voice of God calling us into the ministry, calling us from that place of our comfort zone and that place of opportunity. Between the place of our comfort zone and the place where God wants us to be, that space in between is where faith abides. And only by faith can we please God. In the case of Elisha, we find him out in the field serving when a mantle is suddenly cast upon him. God is making it clear that he's being called forward from the place of his comfort zone to the place of God's will for him in his life. It's interesting to notice several things about the call of Elisha. I notice that God does not call those who are idle. He calls those who are active. God calls those who are active, not those who are idle. That's the pattern throughout God's Word. If you want to be used of God, be like David. David was a shepherd who was actively serving the Lord when God called him away from the sheepfold. God called Levi away from taking taxes, a wicked work that he was doing, but he was industrious about it. He was a successful tax collector. God called the sons of Zebedee away from their fishing business and into ministry. God called Paul away from climbing the rabbinic ladder and even persecuting the church. to make him an apostle of God. The pattern that God sets throughout the pages of God's Word is God calls those to do great things who he finds to be active in doing other things. There's an age-old adage of wisdom. If you want a job to be done well, give it to someone who's busy. God uses that same adage, it seems. God doesn't call those who are idle. He calls those who are active. How many times Will you say no to an opportunity to serve the Lord? Well, it seems like that opportunity wasn't something that quite fit into my comfort zone or my ability set. The more you say no, the less opportunities come. The more you say yes, the more God builds upon those opportunities. So it is that we find with Elisha, he's an active man, he's not idle. God does not call those who are idle, and God does not call those who are irresponsible. God is seeking after those who are responsible people. Note in verse 19, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, was plowing, not with one, but with 12 yoke of oxen before him. Elisha must have been from a very wealthy family. He learned the work ethic early in life. The Lord Jesus says in Luke chapter 16 verse 10, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. He that is unjust in least is unjust also in much. God is looking for those who are willing to be active. God is looking for those who have a sense of responsibility. When I was a youth pastor, a lady came up to my wife in the grocery store one time and she said, Is your husband still a youth pastor or did he get a job yet? Sometimes there's a false perception about people in ministry. I understand that, but I understand this. If God's gonna make you active in ministry wherever it may be that he calls you on Monday morning, tomorrow, he's gonna call those who are active and those who are responsible. He's gonna call those who have a sense of honor about them. God does not call those who are dishonorable. God's call upon Elisha immediately causes Elisha to think about his family. He left his ox, it says in verse 20, his ox and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother. Then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again. What have I done unto thee? God's call for Elisha does not give Elisha an opportunity to dishonor his father. following after God's call, brings with it a responsibility that Elisha has toward his family. Now listen carefully. There's a balancing act that God allows us to perform by the power of His Spirit. That balancing act does not pit one responsibility against another. It blends them together by God's Spirit so we can accomplish great things for His glory. There are those who become so active in ministry that they fail in ministry to their family. And there are some who become so active in family that they fail in any opportunity for ministry. Along the way, what we discover here is a man who's about to enter into the ministry for a 50-year stint that's gonna lay up for him great eternal reward, but I appreciate the heart of Elisha along the way. His first intuitive, instinctual response is to be concerned about his father. The Lord's disciples, you understand, are frequently called upon to make choices that cause them to have to wrestle with, how will this impact my family? Jesus said in Matthew 10, verse 37, he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. Again, throughout the pages of God's word, you'll see this beautiful, biblical, honorable tension. Abraham, Abram, God says, Abraham, come out from Ur of the Chaldeans, away from all that you know, away from family members and friends, and follow me. God says, Ruth, Ruth, leave your family in Moab and go with Naomi. over into the place of Bethlehem, the house of bread. There you'll discover Boaz, that in him there is strength. God says, Rahab, Rahab, you take in the spies and you turn away from your family members in Jericho and identify instead with the people of God. Friends, those who want a double portion of God's blessing, who want to know the joy of being used of God in life, often come to understand that family sacrifices are involved. An honorable, responsible, sweet tension of doing God's work, God's way, to know God's blessing. I've often been challenged by the story in Genesis chapter 22 when Abraham is called of God to take his son, his only son Isaac, Go to a place where God is going to reveal and offer Isaac as a sacrifice to Jehovah God. The challenge of that passage to me certainly is a challenge as a dad. I don't think I could do that, but God gave Abraham the faith to be obedient. Abraham was tested in obedience, and Romans chapter 4 says he demonstrated his faith in God by it. As a father, that would be an impossible, it seems, task, but what about as a son? By this time, Isaac was a son strong enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice, wise enough to ask, we have the wood and we have the fire, but where's the sacrifice, Father? And Abraham says, God will provide Himself a sacrifice. And through the eyes of Isaac, lying on his back on the altar, bound by the cords, with his father wielding the sword over his neck to make him a sacrifice, through the eyes of Isaac, we ask the question, what did Isaac learn at that moment? He learned a lesson that all of our children need to learn, that Abraham's relationship with God is his priority relationship. Abraham's obedience to God is his priority obedience. While Abraham no doubt loves the son that he called laughter, Isaac, the son of promise, he's obedient to the Lord. What a challenge for us as parents. It's a challenge it seems sometimes every day in the generation in which we're living. As we mentioned this morning, we're living in a very child-centered age. Our family schedules are turned upside down, and rather than welcoming children into a home already established, it's as if the children come into the home and change the establishment of it. But as I look in God's Word, I discover that those who know the joy of a double portion of God's blessing, have to prayerfully, wisely, carefully, and spiritually make decisions that impact family security. As we press on in this text, we discover something more. We discover that Elisha is making a decision that is gonna impact his finances. He's willing to make a financial sacrifice. Don't forget that there'd been a drought in Israel for three and a half years. And yet I read in this text that Elisha was plowing, in verse 19, with 12 yoke of oxen. What does that tell us? After a drought, most farmers would be fortunate to have one ox and one plow. The drought, after all, had killed the ground, and with the killing of the ground, the water was for the people first and foremost. But Elisha's family is wealthy enough that they still have twelve yoke of oxen. And I read, he left the oxen, and then he turned back, and in verse 21, he took a yoke of oxen, and he slew them, and he boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen. He gave it unto the people, and they did eat. Friends, this is a very personal sacrifice. Elisha is born into privilege. He's a very, very wealthy farmer. Born into that privilege, he takes two oxen, and he kills the ox, and takes the plow and burns it, and sets himself forward to serve the Lord. Have you ever been to the fair and watched the ox pull or the horse pull? I love going to the state fair. I like to go every year. I like to go to the 4-H barns and see the joy on the faces of the young people who have perhaps been raising a pig or a goat or working with a horse. And there's an intertwined relationship that comes between that animal and that person. I think I sense something of that in this text. It's like a farmer today who says, I really like my John Deere tractor. Maybe it's not my John Deere tractor, there's another kind of tractor that I really like. And God says, go ahead, let's make it even more of a sacrifice. Just push that combine over that cliff. Most farmers would have a very difficult time making such a personal sacrifice. It was no different for Elisha. He's making a very personal sacrifice. He's making a very profound sacrifice. He's sacrificing His most precious possessions. He's doing it because God has required it of Him. Now, I'm not saying that we should set fire to all of our stocks and bonds and cash. But it may be that God is asking you to make a sacrifice rather than clutching what you have to let go. After all, the Lord has said in Matthew 6, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust can corrupt and thieves can break through and steal. God wants people like Moses who esteem the treasures of God of greater value than the things of the world. I see in Elisha such a man. He's a man who'd say, I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. We sing that song, but do we live it? What a blessing it is to come, as I mentioned earlier, to an evening service on a Mother's Day, be part of a congregation that's faithful. What a blessing. What a challenge it is for us, and the challenge doesn't seem to get any easier year by year and day by day, to show our fidelity to the people of God and our faithfulness to God's work. Yes, there are times that God requires sacrifice of us. Sometimes it impacts our family. Sometimes it impacts our finances. But if you want a double portion of God's blessing, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And these decisions that impact us can be the crossroads of opportunity. I look in this passage and I see this prophet who's going to have a double portion of God's blessing, who's going to be marvelously used of God, leaving a very familiar place. He returned back and took the ox and slew them and boiled them, verse 21. He gave unto the people to eat, and he arose, and he went after Elijah, and he ministered unto him. Elisha was from a place called Abel Meholic. It literally means the dancing meadow. His farmland was near the Jordan River. It was valley land. It was rich, beautiful soil, a wonderful place to live, This was the place of God's kind appointment to his family members. Having had the privilege of serving the Lord in New England, I had several opportunities to be the pastor of people who were living on farmland that had been owned by their families from the 1750s and the 1760s. There was a gentleman that I knew well. His name was Emerson. He's now with the Lord. He lived in Loudon, New Hampshire on farmland that had been in his family since the 1760s. Exploring how to do farming better in the 1960s and 1970s, he was advancing with farm equipment in the 1970s. He made so many purchases of dairy farm equipment that he found himself in debt. A recession hit. When the recession hit, he found himself unable to keep up with the bills that he'd taken on. He told me the story as he stood on land that had been owned by his wife's family since the 1760s and pointed across the road at the land that had been in his family since the 1760s, and he wept as he said, Pastor Phelps, I lost the family farm. That's where we used to live. My wife's from this area also, and her family carved out a little five-acre area for us, and we built this house here. It's what we have, and God's been really good to us. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he said, but that was our farm. Elisha left Abelmeholic. He left a place that was tender to his heart. He left the stability of that which was well-known. That's hard. But the Lord calls us each to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Go ye therefore and teach all nations is the commission that the Spirit of God gives to us. My wife and I were newly married. I was in seminary in Minnesota. We were married in August and we were going down the road in West St. Paul, Minnesota at the end of August. The temperature that day was somewhere in the high 40s. And I remember saying to my new bride, is that thermometer right? It can't be in the 40s in August. And she said something sweet to me like this. She said, you know, Chuck, there's only one month out of the 12 months of the year in the state of Minnesota that we haven't had snow. I thought, what am I doing here? As the cold weather came, my mother, who was always so thoughtful, I heard a new release of a song that had come out. Some of you are not old enough to remember what a record was. A record came before an audio tape, which came before a CD. And a record was something you put on a record player, and she sent me this little 45, which is the speed of the record, and I had my record player, and I popped it on there and put the needle on it, and it was John Denver singing, Take Me Home, Country Road. It was cold in Minnesota. As I heard the words of take me home country road and thought about my home state of West Virginia, I'm not kidding, I got a little misty. I thought, what am I doing here? And then I recognized God has put us here. There are those who never really know the blessing of double portion because they never push beyond their comfort zone. Elisha is leaving the stability of what he knows and the security of his earthly anchors. Did you know that America today is number 16 in per capita missionary sending? Did you know that more missionaries go out from Ireland and Canada than go out from the United States of America? You say, that can't be possible. Oh, yes. You know how many Catholics live in Ireland? Per capita, we're not the greatest missionary sending country. often because so many cling to the security and the stability of what they know. But as we take our Bibles and go over to 2 Kings 2, we're gonna find that this farmer, this man, who so loved his land, is gonna be pressing on with Elijah, for it comes to pass in verse one of chapter two, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went unto Elisha from Gilgal, And so we read that he's in Gilgal. And Elijah said in verse 2 unto Elisha, "'Terry here while I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.' And Elisha said unto him, "'As the Lord liveth and as my soul liveth, I will not leave thee.' So they went down to Bethel." Gilgal to Bethel, not a very long trip, about seven miles. And we come to verse three, and the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, knowest thou that thy master will be taken away, or thy master will be taken away from thy head today? And he said, yea, I know it, hold your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho, from Bethel to Jericho, about 12 miles. Now they're in Jericho, but we read in verse 6, and Elijah said unto him, Terry, I pray thee here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. He said, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And the two went on, Jericho to Jordan, about another 25 miles. Elisha is no longer tied to a familiar place. He's doing what the choir sang about this evening. He's following, following, following on. I love the story of David Livingston who went as a missionary to Africa. While in Africa seeing success and people coming to Christ as Savior, his mission agency wrote to him and they said, Mr. Livingston, we have other candidates who would like to be involved in missions. If you can tell us a road to get to where you are, we'd like to send them your way. David Livingston wrote back and said, I'm glad that you have missionary candidates. Please don't send me any that need a road. If you have those who will come, even if there's no road here, send them and send them at once. Are you willing to go and serve where God calls you to go and serve? The songwriter said, oh Lord, the world is lost in sin and so few who seem to care. Many of whom profess thy name, no burden will help to bear. Then the songwriter says, Lord, send me anywhere. Only go with me. Are you willing to be sent anywhere? There's a fourth very difficult decision that I see, Elisha, this man who's going to be enjoying the double portion of God's blessing. It's a decision that we commonly have to make if we're going to be in the center of God's will. Elisha had to ignore some friendly suggestions. From the start, no doubt, Elisha would be receiving counsel that would say, quit, quit, you need to stop. Now, 10 years into his ministry, we come to 2 Kings 2, and 10 years into the ministry, we hear those who were counseling him along the way. Verse two, Elijah said to Elisha, tarry here. Verse four, Elijah said unto Elisha, tarry here. Verse six, Elijah said unto him, tarry, I pray thee, here. Why? That's the senior prophet speaking to the assistant prophet and telling him to stop. Verse three, and the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, knowest thou not that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, yea, I know it. Hold your peace. Again in verse five, and the sons of the prophets that were in Jericho came to Elisha and said, knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, yea, I know it. Hold your peace. There will always be those who will offer alternatives to the people of God. I call this friendly fire. The counsel of the senior prophet, the counsel of the sons of the prophets, to Elisha. And what are they saying? Stop. Don't be so all in. Pull back. There'll always be those who will offer easy alternatives. There'll always be discouraging circumstances that are pointed out. Don't you know that Elijah's gonna be taken from you today? I was called into ministry, called to preach, when I was a freshman in college. No one would have expected me to ever be in ministry. That summer, coming back from college, my parents had decided we'd go north up to Boston to visit my grandparents. My step-grandfather was sleeping on the couch that night. They had a smaller home, and with all our family invading, everybody made the best of it. He was on the couch, I was on the floor. When the lights went off that evening, I'll never forget my grandfather George, my step-grandfather, beginning to talk to me about the crazy idea I had of being in the ministry. The conversation went something like this. Chuck, you know, I've known your dad from the time he married your mom. You realize she's never bought a new car. You realize she's never owned a house. Chuck, is that really where you want to be? And on into the night, the friendly fire ensued. I'm so thankful the Spirit of God gave me the wisdom not to listen. You might be the person counseling someone that way. Hey, take it easy. Pull back. Don't be so earnest. Don't be so zealous. You might be the one who is being used to counsel someone away from knowing a double portion of God's blessing. Or perhaps you've listened to that counsel when you know in your heart of hearts that God has something that he wants you to do, some step of obedience that he wants you to take. I find it interesting that this Old Testament character who's so well known for having a double portion of God's blessing be upon him, that from the outset of the ministry, the Spirit of God helps us to understand that there are some very significant steps this man is having to make in order to know God's special blessing in his life. As we read in the passage here in chapter two, moving onward from Gilgal to Jericho to Bethel and everywhere in between, physically exhausted, emotionally spent, hearing that Elijah's not gonna be much longer on earth. He's pursuing after and continuing when fatigue would stagger others. He's not gonna stop. 10 years, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd wanna be 10 years serving as the assistant prophet to Elijah. That guy got upset. Some really serious things happened. But the Bible tells us that with humility of spirit, Elisha poured water over Elijah's hands. He served for 10 years as the assistant to a very difficult boss. Behold, James 5 says in verse 11, we count them happy which endure. We're to run with patience the race that is set before us. For over 50 years, Elisha is going to faithfully follow the Lord's directions in his life, and in the end, he's going to receive a double portion of God's blessing. Why? Because, folks, the decisions that he's making along the way have been modeled for us by Jesus Christ. Listen, the only one recorded in the Bible who will do more miracles than Elisha is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he left his family circle in heaven to come to earth. He gave up finances to make tremendous sacrifices, so much so that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. He left that familiar, beautiful area of the Galilee, to go into Judea, and even to be persecuted in Jerusalem, to be in the center of the will of God, crying out, let this cup pass from me. Oh, the friendly suggestions of his disciples. Peter was willing to say to Jesus when he said, he set his face as a flint toward Jerusalem, Peter was willing to say to him, not so, Lord, be it far from you. The Lord had to say to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. Oh, when fatigue caused him to stumble under the weight of the cross, he continued forward and was able to pray, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. I don't know where you are right now in your life, but I know this. Every one of us who's pursuing after to know the best and the blessing of God in our lives are going to face these stumbling blocks, these crossroads, these challenges. We may face them daily. We may face them on a regular basis. But if we would be those who would say, Lord, I want a double portion of your blessing. I want your blessings upon me. Then we ought to be ready. We ought to be fortified. We have the examples of the Old Testament for us. These things happened unto them, it says in Corinthians, to be an example to us upon whom the end of the ages come. As I look at Elisha and say, yes, Lord, I would really like to have a double portion of your blessing. I don't know exactly all that that means, but I know it means that you would use my life for your glory. That's what I want, that I need to be prepared. There are going to be challenges with regard to family and finances and familiar places and friendly suggestions and even fatigue. And the Lord can help us through each of them if we consecrate our lives to Him. May that be our desire.