To Search Within-To Discovery Without: The Path of Self-Denial

Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he said, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so." And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. - 2 King 2:1-14

I find many topics easy to teach and hard to live. Anyone who knows me personally must know this. I myself, as I have moved through my life with Jesus as Captain of my soul, have become more acutely aware of how I get in the way of me.

Self-denial does not come naturally. It is a learned virtue often hard-learned at that. It is encouraged by few and modeled by even fewer. It seems to be discouraged in our society and in the most respected behavioral instruments it is even frowned upon. This is particularly true among those who are Type A personalities.

In church circles, leadership is especially cursed with a lack of ability for self-denial. If you are a student of scripture you would find Prophets are notorious for exhibiting Type A temperament, which, in our reading above, makes Elijah all the more remarkable. Without hedging one iota in heroism, he was as soft clay in his Master's hands. If you rad the previous chapters you would find Elijah the Prophet did his best work "under the shadow of the Almighty." to quote a phrase used in conjunction with him. And, what was the result of this. For Elijah because of his humility and his grip on self-denial his was a life of power. He had come to the place where he welcomed the death of his own desires. He had become comfortable with the thought that God would be glorified and he would give up everything in the process.

Think on that for a moment.

Elijah had become comfortable with a whole new set of "places" in his life where victory would be won; true victory. What were these places? They were the place of beginning, the place of the prayer, the place of battle, the place of death. These became places of conquest. What we find unnatural he would and embraced and realized contentment, satisfaction and purpose.

We, too, have such places in our lives. Don't we?

First, there's a place of beginning. That's home base---the very beginning of our Christian experience when we discovered and embraced Jesus Christ and acknowledged Him as Savior and Lord of life. That's our place of new beginning. If you read this rightly that place might have been Gilgal for Elijah. At our own Gilgal, we become brand new.

For some of us, that place of beginning, that home base, is far in the past. Search your memory. Can you remember when you took your first few baby steps as a new Christian? If you were anything like I was you tottered a little, and those who loved and mentored you helped steady you on your feet or, tried. And you learned the basics of life: how to get into the Word; how to pray; how to have time with God; how to perhaps haltingly, share your faith.

And then comes the place of prayer. Remember? You first began to learn what it was to sacrifice, to surrender things dear and precious to you. You took actual time from your day because, by faith, you were believing God would hear and respond to you. For some started in earnest over a tragedy. Perhaps it was someone else's pain but you felt that pain. Or you began a life of prayer over the loss of a child, a husband, a wife. Perhaps for you it was the loss of a job, your own business, or a lifelong dream, so close, yet seemingly slipping through your fingertips and the fear it would never be realized.

Elijah had a place called Bethel. It was his place to pray. Coming all alone to your own Bethel, you learned to pray. And, you need to know, a place to pray and worship, and lift God up and bring self into right relationship to Him is a place where, on your knees you become more powerful.

If you learned in this way, if it happened for you as I described then God did a growing work in your life as He carried you from that place of communion to the next stage He planned for you. Normally the next stage was more action, more adventure and usually even less control. But because you'd learned the value of prayer and worship, you built your altar, and you learned even more at His feet.

If you are an older Christian; 10, 20, 40 years of Bible, prayer, church, Jesus you might need a time to remember. Search back in time. Remember?

Self-denial is hard to learn, and, for all of us, not just a few, it is just as hard to hold onto. If the life of Elijah is any indicator it's worth the effort.Perhaps more than this, it is the thing that turns the trappings of our faith into a reality. Get real, get down, literally, with God. I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~