The Double-Portioned Spirit 1-24-10
One of my dearest friends is a Captain in the US Army, and he related a story to me of something that happened to him while deployed to Afghanistan. My friend was in a position with his men and was engaged in a firefight with enemy forces. While he was in the prone position firing his weapon he felt someone grasp his ankle. When he looked, he saw his battalion’s chaplain looking back at him; the chaplain simply said “it’s Easter morning, would you mind if I prayed with you?” My friend answered with an emphatic “yes!” and this chaplain, who had exposed himself to mortal danger from enemy fire to give spiritual comfort to my friend and his soldiers, prayed in the middle of a battle.
I was quite impressed with this story. It seems all too often we hear stories in the news about religious people who fail to live as they preach; as the above story illustrates, there are people who care more about their faith than even their own safety. Those stories should be the reputation of Christians, as that is what we see in the Bible. Here are two examples:
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” (1 Samuel 17:32-37 NIV)
Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:13-18 NIV)
In the first example, we see that David was not afraid to enter a dangerous situation because he new that God would deliver him from the hand of Goliath just as he had delivered David from the lion and the bear. Do we shy away from situations that might lead to embarrassment or danger if we were called to make a stand for God?In the second example, we see that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not only fully trusting in God to save them, but they wanted it known that they were more than willing to die rather than to betray God. Are we willing to make it known that we believe in God?
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. (2 Kings 2:9 NIV)
This verse is from when Elijah is taken up into heaven; all Elisha wanted was to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. This Elisha later makes a spring of toxic water pure, raises from the dead the Shunammite’s son, heals Naaman the Aramean of leprosy, and traps the Aramean army. This demonstrates that God grants his Spirit to those who call on him and truly seek him. Call out to God through your prayers, seek him in his word, and trust him to give to you his Spirit. Then look for opportunities to show others what God has done for you.
-Charles Peterson