Much has been said about Elijah’s departure from this world and Elisha’s faithfulness in remaining with him to the end, even in the face of Elija’s insistence that he remain behind. Elijah first told him to stay behind so that he could travel on to Bethel, then to Jericho and finally to Jordan. Elisha’s response to each of these requests was unwavering, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.”
Each of these choices was a point of testing. Would the apprentice be faithful to the elder prophet? Yet the greatest time of testing was yet to come. Finally, as Elijah realized that his young student would not be dissuaded from following him, he asked what Elisha’s desire was. Elisha replied that he wanted a double portion. A double portion of what? God’s Spirit and anointing.
Elijah’s response is one of the most brushed over of the scripture, “You have asked a hard thing. Never the less, if you see me when I am taken up…” Why was Elisha’s request a hard thing? Because in order to meet his mentor’s requirements, he was going to have to face his fears.
We often hear about the Chariot and horses of fire, but it fails to register that there was what we would call a tornado involved here. Not only did Elisha have to be faithful enough to not give up and turn back; he also had to keep Elijah in his sight until he was taken up and the prophet’s mantle had fallen down.
I experienced a tornado recently and while my kids and I did stand at the window and watch the approaching black clouds and distant lightening with awe, there was a point when the hail began to fall and things started flying through the air that we bailed and ran. At first we felt brave, all secure in our brick house, but the closer the monster got, the more our bravado failed us. In one instant, we went from facing the oncoming storm to running breathlessly to hide in the basement.
Elisha knew that Elijah was being taken from him that day. Scripture says that God would do nothing in the earth unless He first reveals it to his sons the prophets. The great and notable event was prophecied at each place they stopped. Elisha knew what; he just didn’t know how. He didn’t know how frightening it would be. He didn’t realize the powerful emotions that would threaten to engulf him at the critical moment when he must not look away. The overwhelming urge to flee, even though he had refused to turn back from following his mentor at every other point of the journey.
God’s Word says, He that endures until the end shall be saved. Many people have walked a measure of the journey with the Lord. They have even done notable works for the Kingdom during that time. But when they had to face their greatest fears -rejection, offense, or crumbling goals -they fled. Or when they were called upon by the Spirit to come up higher, they hid their faces against the onslaught of oppression.
We are called to look to Jesus in the face of apparent destruction, when we can see nothing but calamity on the horizon. After the younger prophet had picked up Elijah’s mantle, the symbol of Elisha’s much sought after double portion, did he remember a moment when he almost turned away from the storm. Was he embarrassed by his humanity?
In this journey that we are walking with Jesus, we must not turn back, but what if God requires more of us in these last days? What if we are called on to face our fears? What would we do if we weren’t afraid? To pray, to sing, to write, to speak, to witness? What spiritual victories would we attain if we didn’t seek shelter when the thing that we are most afraid of is upon us? What blessing might be hiding in the raging storm?
