Xanthe Hancox

A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe corn, along with some ears of new corn. ‘Give it to the people to eat,’ Elisha said. ‘How can I set this before a hundred men?’ his servant asked. But Elisha answered, ‘Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: “They will eat  and have some left over.”’ 2 Kings 4:42-43

It’s easy to see how Elisha’s character and works resemble many of the features of the ministry of Jesus. In today’s verse, we read the story of the man from Baal Shalishah, and it’s impossible to miss the similarities to the feeding of the 5 000. Just as the disciples were to learn about God’s provision from the feeding of the five thousand, so here we have a group of prophets gathered together around Elisha who learned to trust God.

God had given these men the responsibility of carrying His Word to an idolatrous nation, and it wasn’t going to be easy. They would face personal hardships, persecutions, times of want, and many other difficulties for which only God was adequate. In this text, they were called on to believe God and trust him for all their needs and responsibilities.

Elisha was a rescue worker who God used to transform harmful situations and times of deep need into times of plenty. He could see above, beyond, and through immediate ruin and misery to what God had planned instead. His prophetic ministry was fueled by faith in God’s plan.

What are some of our needs for which we need to trust the Lord today? There’s the physical ones – health, food, shelter – and there’s also our need to grow in faith and obedience, we need spiritual discernment, guidance and wisdom.

We may not be prophets like Elisha, but our work is the same: to witness to the hope we have and to be agents of that hope to people who have none.

Prayer: God of hope and of new beginnings, thank you for your plans for us, plans of hope and a future. Strengthen the hope that is within us. Amen