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The Blessing in the Whirlwind
By Sheila Martinez
The morning comes – it is a new day.
A new place, a new time - Do we really see this or do we consider
it just another day?
It is a time frame in which we haven’t been before. There could
be possibilities and challenges that none of us have encountered before
in this new day. How can we possibly know all that will be required
to live within each day?
I am finally learning, or rather ‘SEEING’, that all
of the stages in my life have provided a place to stand as I take
a new and unexplored step – each becoming ‘UNDERSTANDING’
for that time – a place under my feet where I can stand, and
find my balance in the wind of the season -- and then, step forward
again into the new thing. Into understanding that is even greater,
deeper, wider, higher.
I find comfort in the fact, as the prophet Jeremiah did, that we
have a helper that will walk with us into each new place. A friend
that will stick closer than a brother – this friend is the
Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the helper that says the same words to
us today, even as he did to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:11 – "For I know the plans
I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
A hope. A possibility. A promise. This is where my confidence and
expectation live. Because I have this promise, I am able to open
up to the possibilities I have not yet seen. Is there more for me
and mine than what I have known? For you and yours? Yes!
The prophet Elisha had to deal with the same decision: to look at
life through a promise. His mentor, the great prophet Elijah, is
one of the most compelling personalities in the Bible. He had a
connection with God that was fleshed out in the very life he lived,
with such power that it affected the very atmosphere around him.
He spoke, and it was.
Elisha was drawn to Elijah for just this purpose, to have a future
and a hope that was promised by God. Elijah became a mentor and
beloved teacher to Elisha - and he chose to follow Elijah and learn.
But within the process Elisha had to decide to look beyond
the moment - beyond all the circumstances, choose
to believe God’s promise above all evidence to the contrary,
and to invite the future and hope to fill his life -- even
as he lived it.
As I read through the exploits these two men shared, I was captured
by the passage in which Elisha was seeking the double portion anointing
of Elijah. As a prophet, Elisha knew that the time had come for
God to take his beloved mentor to heaven. He was struggling with
this knowledge to such a degree that he asked the sons of the prophets
not to speak of it. You see, when God does something, He is not
quiet about it. The word says out of the mouth of two or more witnesses
let everything be established. God will speak to his own and tell
them the end from the beginning. And Elisha was hearing the message
- from many voices, adding to his distress.
Elisha was having to adjust to the impending loss of his teacher
and so wanted to embrace the abilities he saw in this powerful individual.
And his desire to be connected with God on an even deeper level
rose in his heart. He set out to push through the pain of loss to
obtain the gift of his own special high calling. Is this still possible
today? I believe so.
As the two traveled to a place of solitude, the prophet asked his
student, “What would you have me do for you?” And Elisha
said, “I pray, let a double portion of the spirit that is
in you be upon me.” Elijah replied, “You have asked
a hard thing, but if you see me when I am taken, it shall be so;
but if not, it shall not be.”
The story then goes on to describe two different phenomena: A chariot
of fire and a whirlwind. Let’s look at the story:
2 Kings 2: 1-15 -- 1 When the LORD was about
to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were
on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the
LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the
LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went
down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked,
"Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you
today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."
4 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent
me to Jericho." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and
as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked
him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from
you today?" "Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it."
6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the
Jordan."And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you
live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.
7 Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance,
facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with
it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two
of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can
I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double
portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you
see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours - otherwise not."
11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot
of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them,
and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this
and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen
of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his
own clothes and tore them apart. 13 He picked up the cloak that
had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the
Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck
the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he
asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to
the left, and he crossed over.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching,
said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went
to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
There appeared a chariot and horses of fire that parted
the two men, and then the whirlwind appeared. This is where I wonder:
If Elisha had been distracted and looked only at the whirlwind would
he have received the double portion anointing? Elijah went up by
a whirlwind into heaven, but he was in the chariot. Elisha saw Elijah
leave in the fiery vehicle of God's choice. He also saw the whirlwind
that lifted Elijah high and away, but his eyes were on his teacher
and friend. The wind did not steal his gaze, nor the mighty whirlwind
his hope.
Do we keep our eyes on God and the promise he has given to us? Or
do we look at the storm, the circumstance? Is there a whirlwind
in your life right now? Is it possible that the wind is actually
blowing the future and the hope of God into your existence? How
many times have you been in a difficult place where the worst circumstances
turned out to be one of the greatest lessons in your life? ”
The whirlwind was not the answer, but it was the power that God
used to lift Elijah up. The story goes on to verify the promise:
Beauty for ashes.
“And Elisha saw it, and he cried, ‘My father, my father,
the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen.’ And he no longer
saw Elijah.”
Elisha took hold of his clothes, and tore them in two pieces, as
he was overcome with the pain of loss. Elisha took up the cloak
of Elijah that fell as he went up into the heavens and he turned
back down the path he had just walked with his beloved mentor. The
sons of the prophets watched as Elisha began to do what his teacher
had done before him, and once again God’s confirmation came,
“The spirit of Elijah does indeed rest on Elisha.”
In times of distress we, too, can draw on the spirit within us where
we can find a double portion of strength for our painful situations
as well.
Perhaps the winds in our lives are meant to accomplish the desired
promise of God — a means to an end, the connection to the
future and the hope. Is it possible to find this kind of connection
in this day and age? If God doesn’t change -- and He says
He doesn’t -- then it is just as sure today as when Elisha
walked this earth. If only we will choose to see beyond the wind.
I hope you will let your hope arise as you look into the new day,
for you never know what great things are coming your way –
whether by a gentle breeze or the mighty whirlwind – both
are in the hands of the God who is there and offers to you a future
and a hope.
If you would like to comment on this article, please send an email
to:sheila@vine3.org
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