Today we are continuing to process our way through the book of 2 Kings.
The theme that we sought to internalize in 1 Kings was hope amidst failure. And there were so many failures in 1 Kings, so many downfalls. How can there be hope in all the failures? Because that hope is not in kings or kingdoms, in a system or a culture, or in affluence or power. Hope amidst failure is found in putting our hope in God—who loves us and has grace for us, who cares and helps and is constant and faithful. God is all these things In and amidst our failures.
Then as we turned the page to 2 Kings, we shifted to this question as our theme: How will you persist? Life pleads for persistence in moments such as raising children, building a marriage, recovering from illness, breaking a bad habit, paying off debt, learning a new skill, healing from loss, recovering from failure, restoring trust, and following God faithfully. How will I persist in life’s moments?
So far in 2 Kings we have seen people persisting to look for help from anyone or anything other than God (ch 1), persisting to be discipled and to receive the passing on of legacy and responsibility (ch 2), persisting to not turn to God in desperate moments until they go from desperate to super desperate (ch 3), and persisting to be a faithful—to take steps of faith—in moments when there is a need for God’s miracles (ch 4). And last week we saw persistence in life’s ironic moments—moments that flip our expectations, our perceptions, and our understanding of fairness and justice (ch 5).
Today we will dive into a larger section of the book, but we will only touch on three of the stories in 2 Kings 6-8. I encourage you to read the whole text yourself. And as we dig in, let me tell you where we’re going today.
As we persist in what God has for us—being godly, doing what is right, making good decisions, trusting God, pursuing relationship with Him, being Christlike in our relationships with others—this persisting will invite us to countless moments where we will deal with both fear and trust.
Fear is real and powerful and tangible and internal and physical and so many other things—AND it doesn’t automatically stop us from having relationship with God or from connecting with Him and walking in His will.
Trust is complicated and slippery and motivating and tangible and intangible and fragile and so many other things—AND it can be misplaced or misguided or blocked or too delicate.
So today, as we walk through the narratives, we will try to draw attention to the rollercoaster ride of fear and trust, all while seeing God’s faithfulness persist. And we will see that fear and trust, as they are part of life, are pleading for us to be actively engaged in community. I believe it is outside God’s plan for us to overcome fear alone or to preserve our trust alone.
Let’s start with a survey to begin our processing. Here is a list of 15 moments in life.
Receiving a difficult diagnosis
Losing a job
Starting a new job
Becoming a parent
Sending a child off to college
Facing financial uncertainty
Walking through grief
Following God’s call into the unknown
Choosing friends
Standing up to peer pressure
Trying out for a team
Choosing a career path
Facing online criticism
Asking someone on a date
Making a mistake and owning it
As you face each of these, what is your initial feeling? I know there are many, and they are probably mixed. But for this survey, I want you to pick between these two: fear (What if everything goes wrong?) and trust (It will be okay, even if I don’t know how yet).
What is your initial feeling when you think about these moments in life?
Let’s talk about our results together.
What stands out to you as you look at your answers?
How would this survey be different if it was a sliding scale?
One more conversation stemming from the survey, building foundation for where we are going today:
How can fear become an obstacle that paralyzes you or a catalyst that motivates you?
How can trust become a source of courage or a reason to ignore real concerns?
Again, our theme in 2 Kings is, How will I persist? And today, we are not going to have a moment where we say that fear is stopping us from persisting. Fear isn’t all bad. It can be refining and clarifying and unifying and focusing. And we are also not going to have a moment where we say that trust is the answer to persisting. Trust isn’t all good. It can cause laziness or be distracting or lead to pride or isolation. Instead, we’re going to see that a foundation for all those moments in life that bring fear and trust is community.
Let’s take a look at fear and trust through the lens of the Beatitudes. Jesus, in Matthew 5, was about to share His longest recorded sermon. A large, incredibly diverse crowd had gathered to hear Him. His ministry of teaching and healing had drawn people who were suffering, searching, and hoping. They included His disciples (those committed to following him), curious crowds (people drawn by his healing and teaching), the hurting and marginalized (many seeking hope and help), skeptics and onlookers (wondering whether Jesus was truly from God), and religious experts and authorities (evaluating his teaching and influence).
If there was one thing that the crowd thought they had figured out, it was who was blessed by God—the powerful, the people with no needs, the ones who were loved and supported and happy and far from pain. The people knew from their culture and their reality that these external and visible things were clear signs of being blessed. But then Jesus started His Sermon on the Mount:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-12)
Let’s look at the rollercoaster of fear and trust that each of these can be.
Poor in spirit: When I am in a moment when I really need God’s help (perhaps sitting in a hospital waiting room for a loved one)
Fear says I need to prove myself.
Trust says it is ok to need God’s help.
Mourning: When I am experiencing loss and mourning (cleaning out their closet)
Fear says I am defined by my loss forever.
Trust says that God will meet me and comfort me.
Meek: When I feel I have been put in my place (receiving criticism after speaking your mind)
Fear says I must assert myself to survive.
Trust says I can surrender power and let God vindicate me.
Hungering and thirsting for righteousness: When I feel my failures and long to be a person of greater character (apologizing after losing my temper)
Fear says things will never be made right.
Trust says God will satisfy and restore.
Merciful: When I am choosing to be kind and considerate to a person who doesn’t deserve it (responding graciously to a rude associate)
Fear says people will take advantage of me.
I can extend grace because I have received grace.
Pure in heart: When I move from focusing on my external production to my internal integrity (turning off my laptop to spend time reflecting and praying)
Fear says appearances matter most.
Trust says that integrity before God matters more than image.
Peacemaker: When I put my energy into keeping connection as opposed to defending my position (choosing to listen instead of arguing during a disagreement)
Fear says I need to win the argument.
Trust says reconciliation is worth the effort.
Persecuted: When I who I am is under extreme scrutiny and is being attacked (reading hurtful comments about me)
Fear says when I face opposition I should retreat.
Trust says God’s approval matters more than people’s acceptance.
The Beatitudes describe what trust looks like in situations where fear would seem like the obvious response.
Life is full of moments of fear and trust. Let’s process this together:
How do fear and trust both play a role in faith in God?
2 Kings 6-8 is an amazing read. It contains stories that repeatedly display the theme of fear and trust. But there is another thread here: not alone. In 1 Kings, Elijah often seemed to be a lone wolf, but in 2 Kings, we see Elisha in community over and over and over again. And in the stories we’re going to highlight today, I want us to see not only that there are people walking in fear and people walking in trust, but also how they come together.
The first story comes right away in chapter 6.
The people wanted to make a larger place to meet with the prophet Elisha. They decided to make it a group project and all go to the Jordan and cut a tree to make poles for a new meeting place. They invited Elisha to come, to honor and involve him. When they got to the river and started chopping, one person’s axhead flew off the handle into the river. Oh no!
This was definitely a moment of fear. The axe had been borrowed. What would the owner do or say? How could he be repaid? What should the man do?
He turned to Elisha. And there were no long-winded prayers or theological explanations—really, no mention of God at all (except to call Elisha the “man of God”). Elisha asked where the axhead had fallen, and then cut a stick and threw it into that spot in the river, and the axhead floated up in the water and was grabbed. End of story.
There was so much fear in the axe borrower. There was so much trust in Elisha. And they were together.
The second story is also in chapter 6.
The king of Aram was at war with Israel. (His army commander, Naaman, was just healed of leprosy in the last chapter.) Elisha was telling the king of Israel all of Aram’s plans, again and again warning of impending attack and thwarting the king. The king of Aram was furious because he was sure there was a spy amongst them, but then he was told that Elisha the prophet was getting his plans from God. So the king, who was enraged, assembled his armies and sent them to Dothan to capture Elisha. Elisha’s servant went outside and saw the armies Aram surrounding them. Oh no!
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:16-17)
There was so much fear: the king of Aram feared Elisha’s power and wanted to eliminate it, and the servant feared for their lives. And there was so much trust: Elisha trusted God and saw the angel army. And they were together.
Then Elisha prayed and the Aram army was stuck blind. The blind, confused, helpless army of Aram was led by Elisha to the king of Israel in Samaria. The king asked if he should kill them, but Elisha said no, give them a feast and send them on their way home.
There was so much trust and fear. Elisha trusted God’s army. He also trusted God’s justice and sent the army of Aram home. Elisha’s assistant feared the army that surrounded them. The king feared the trapped army. And they were together.
We have one more story today, about a siege and a famine.
Some time after the blinded army had been released back to Aram, Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram besieged Israel. Israel was trapped and food was running out. The little that was available was selling for crazy prices.
The king of Israel was passing by on the wall when a woman cried out to him for justice. In her story, showing how bad things were, she told him about a pact she had made with another woman to eat their sons so they could survive, but after hers was eaten, the other woman had hidden her son and refused to honor their agreement.
This caused the king to (justifiably) freak out. But then he blamed God for the situation and decided to take his rage out on Elisha, promising to cut off his head that same day. Of course Elisha knew the king’s men were coming and had his people block the door. While they were trying to get in, Elisha promised that food would be cheap the very next day. A servant of the king said that was impossible, so Elisha told him that he would see it but eat none of it.
Meanwhile, there were four lepers in Israel who knew they were going to die because of the famine but thought that if they went over to the Aram army, they might be able to get some food and live. When they arrived at the camp, the soldiers were all gone, but all their stuff was still there! The army had heard a sound like a huge army approaching and had fled.
The lepers were so confused! But they enjoyed the food. After a while they felt guilty and decided to go back and tell the Israelites about the bounty left behind by the missing army. When they reported what they had found, the king feared it was a trap. One of the commanders suggested sending a small regiment to check, rather than risking a larger group. But when they went, they found it just as the lepers had said, with abundant supplies strewn along the road. When the report came back, the people stampeded out to the food—and the servant who had doubted the day before was trampled and didn’t get a bite, just as Elisha had said.
Again, there is so much fear and trust. The king fears the armies of Aram. The lepers fear death. And Elisha trusts God. And they were together.
The stories continue, and I would encourage you to read these chapters yourself. For now, let’s pause to process. So far, we have talked about how fear becomes an obstacle that paralyzes you or a catalyst that motivates you; we have talked about how trust becomes a source of courage or a reason to ignore real concerns; and we have talked about how fear and trust both play a role in faith in God. And now:
What is happening that some people in the same circumstance don’t trust God and others do?
There are lots of moments in life that can be isolating, like the ones we listed in our survey at the beginning. Fear might come with shame, so we isolate ourselves. Trust might come with a feeling of being better than others or of not needing others, so we isolate ourselves. And isolating—walking in those moments alone—comes with a cost.
These stores point to the value of not being alone. The trust that Elisha had was not something that just served himself. It had huge impact on the masses. The fear that various people experienced was not the end of the story. It really was the beginning. Not because they individually figured it out, but because they were together.
Take a look at these verses:
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5)
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
Together.
We will end with one more conversation. Life comes with lots of moments—moments that foster fear and trust. Let’s have a conversation about responsibility. There is a call to persist when we are fueled by trust—and—there is a call to persist when we are being crushed by fear.
When you find yourself in difficult circumstances and yet trusting God, what is your responsibility to those that are being crushed by fear?
When you find yourself in difficult circumstances and being crushed by fear, what is your responsibility in being connected with and supported by others?
Take it Deeper Questions
Read 2 Kings 6:1-7.
Think of a time when you were facing a situation that seemed impossible to fix, perhaps involving family, health, finances, or a major life decision, and all you could see were the obstacles in front of you. When you encounter uncertainty, or bad news, what is typically your first reaction?
What do you think has shaped that response in you?
When things go wrong, how does that impact your faith?
When things go right, how does that impact your faith?
How do you maintain faith in both the good and bad moments in life?
Bible Reading
2 Kings 6
Psalm 27
2 Kings 7
2 Kings 8
Hebrews 11
Romans 8