Living for His Glory
The most human thing that we sometimes do is expect God to sustain our plans, be it they fit into His plans for this world or not. Sometimes we forget that we are the creation, and He is the creator. Therefore, if anyone is to submit to the plans of the other, it is us the creation, and not He, the creator. As the Oracle from The Matrix movies would say, we are all here to do what we are all here to do. Apostle Paul touches on this quite heavily when He introduces the concept of the Gospel of Election by Grace, a very sensitive subject and one that I am not fully equipped to write on. I will leave my friend Tapi to address this one in an article to come. But, the words of Apostle Paul even as he quotes what is written in 1 Kings 19 are meant to highlight that God will always have a plan for this world and who, He is going to use for the fulfillment of this plan.
Sometimes, all we want is reassurance that what we want is what God wants for us, but this is rarely the case. In Romans 12: 2, Apostle Paul talks about the idea of spiritual maturity in which we ought not to be conformed to the things of this world but reinvent our belief systems and character to an extent that we can assess situations and qualify them as either the will of God or the plans of the enemy. This level of understanding is very critical in our walk with God for it is a part of His will for His children to know His will and purpose for their lives. However, our ignorance limits our relationship with Him as it sometimes leads us down a path inspired by earthly desires instead of God’s will. There is a passage of scripture in the book of Romans 5, that talks about how mindsets are the foundation of the kind of hope one carries and a compromise in belief systems is a compromise in God’s hope of glory for the earth.
God’s hope of glory is Christ in us, it is our salvation as explained in Colossians 1:27, the kind of hope that inspires freedom and accentuates our esteem, Romans 5: 3-5, which we didn’t earn by the way but got through grace by faith. It is the principles of this faith that says we were saved because we were loved and we were loved because we were created but we were created for a purpose. Scripture says God is the creator of all things and for all He created, He gave a purpose. You are not here by happenstance or for some flesh-inspired dreams, hopes, and ambitions. No, you are here for the reasons stipulated in Proverbs 16:4, your purpose. And not your purpose as inspired by you but God’s will for your life and this world. Romans 8:28 says everything works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose that is, it is only that which is His purpose that works for your good. Other things may work but the question becomes for whose good because your good is on the basis of the fulfillment of God’s purpose for your life.
The prophet Elisha led the schools of prophets in Jericho, Bethel, and Gilgal around the time at which a season came and there wasn’t enough room for the students at the existing sites, 2 Kings 6: 1. In instances like this, our natural eyes will always perceive a problematic situation. It is our spiritual eyes that will always see opportunities where they naturally perceive problems. This is true for Elisha’s students, they perceived a motivation for expansion, as said in Isaiah 54, pulling off the tent’s pegs and stretching the curtains to create more room for the fruits of the fulfillment of God’s plans. Listening in on this conversation Elisha is having with his students in 2 Kings 6:1-7, we learn of their plans and desire to expand the training houses, which are all selfless and kingdom-inspired hopes and ambitions. This is so made clear when out of obedience, respect, and honor they seek after Elisha’s approval and He says “Go”.
The simplicity of Elisha’s response during this interaction if taken as a model of our relationship with God is a clear reflection of what happens when we abandon ourselves and pick up the business of the kingdom. God’s answers become yes and amen indeed and we become less frustrated as we shout for joy for more will be on the way. There is an obvious joy that comes from getting permission to chase after your desires and this increases the more one walks on this journey and accomplishes all that one set to accomplish.
A pre-requisite for a lifestyle that inspires God’s glory is abiding in Christ as He says in John 15, a reiteration and validation of the implications of the 2 Kings 6:1-7 passage of scripture. This a clear indication that abiding in your source of power has always been the principle of the walk of faith. After Elisha gives them permission to build towards the expansion of the school, the students ask him to accompany them. Verses 5-7 puts the value of Elisha’s presence at the construction site into context when one of the students loses his borrowed axe head and Elisha comes through for him in retrieving it. This is the same concept in our walk with God, in John 15 Christ says God’s presence in our lives is a condition for fruitfulness, productivity, and excellence.
The goal of every believer must be to live a life that points out Christ to the world and gives glory to God. This can look like so many things and one way is walking and abiding in God and feasting on His word to a point where you walk in His will as inspired by discernment and his knowledge.
