Ready To Make Some Changes?  By Babatunde Olugboji

Thanks be to Almighty God, our father in heaven for bringing us to another week, the second week of the brand-new year. As the year is still fresh, there are steps I will encourage you to consider taking, to get the best of the year. These steps include being humble, diligently seeking God, and being proactive, not just reacting to situations. A good place to start is examining a narrative involving the kings of Israel, Judah and Edom in 2 Kings 3. 

In the story, the Bible says the kings set out to fight the Moabites and at some point, one of them, Jehoram the king of Israel exclaimed: “What! Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab? (2 Kings 3:10) Whereas Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah said: “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” (2 Kings 3:10)

This was how two people reacted very differently to the same situation. The godly king of Judah sought God’s word in the matter, while Jehoram the king of Israel saw it as an attempt to destroy them, a case of taking a negative view of situations. Both Jehoram and Jehoshaphat believed there was a spiritual, divine element to their current crisis. While Jehoram believed that God was to be avoided because of the crisis, Jehoshaphat believed that God should be sought because of the same crisis.

So, one of the servants of the king of Israel pointed out that there was indeed a prophet  that could hear from God: “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to see the prophet.

That was how the kings learned that there was a prophet “who poured water on the hands of Elijah,” in reference to Elisha. This was a wonderful title for Elisha and a wonderful description for any servant of God today. The description spoke of Elisha’s humility. He was the humble and practical servant of Elijah. His service to Elijah prepared him for further spiritual service. Did you notice that going to see Elisha was an illustration of humility on the part of these three kings? Normally, kings demanded that others should come to see them, however, these three were willing to go to the prophet.

With the encouragement of  Jehoshaphat, the kings sought God through His prophet. Doesn’t that remind you of how the Bible asks us to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and that all other things will be given to us as well? (Mat 6:33) 

Jehoshaphat was a God seeker and God gave him victory. For you to have victory, you need to proactively seek God. Are there changes you need to make today to seek God effectively?

Will you pray thus this week: Father in heaven, whatever changes I need to make to be able to access the change you have for me, help me make those changes. Help me to live a life of humility in 2022. 

Have a great week.

Kingdom Dynamics, a weekly column  written by Dr. Babatunde Olugboji, the President, Kingdom House, a non-profit organization in New Jersey, USA.