Through All Of Life's Experiences

Scripture verses that caught my attention today: 2 Kings 13:20-21 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 As a man was being buried, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.

Observation: Why don’t we hear more about this?

Application: There are several instances in the Scriptures where a person is brought back to life. The example above is one that hadn’t really jumped out at me before, though I’m sure I’ve read this passage several times over the last dozen years or so. What’s striking is that, although the Scripture writer makes note of the event, the writer doesn’t go and on about it. It happened, but many other things happened as well, and so the writer goes on.

In life there are these big events that we experience. They consume our time and attention for a season, but then they reach an end and, like the people of old, we also must move on. The wedding, the graduation, the retirement, the death, the empty nest, or even the new birth are momentous occasions to be sure. Nevertheless, the next day comes and we can’t spend the rest of our lives just saying, “now what?” Instead we roll up our sleeves and either pick up where we left off before or perhaps embark on a new path. We might be forever changed, but we are not to be frozen in time. We can take a cue from the Old Testament writer and realize that, however the grand the occasion, there is still more to be written or more to be done. In short, there are more life and faith experiences yet to share.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the momentous occasions. But I also thank you for the plain old day-to-day experiences as well, one right after the other. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 2 Kings 13-14, 2 Chronicles 25, 2 Timothy 3)