Approach The Impossible - Elisha

When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the LORD.

2 Kings 4:32-33

When the great American inventor Charles Kettering headed up research at General Motors and wanted a problem solved, he would call a meeting of his engineers. When they arrived at the meeting room, they were greeted with this sign: “Leave slide rules here.”

“If I didn’t do that,” Kettering explained, “I’d find someone reaching for his slide rule. Then he’d be on his feet saying, ‘Boss, you can’t do it.’”

In raising the dead son of a woman from Shunem back to life, the Old Testament prophet Elisha demonstrated that it is essential to do the impossible, also known as what we can’t do.

Elisha had sent his assistant Gehazi ahead to try to raise the boy, but he had failed. After Elisha took over, the boy’s mother was soon carrying her living son out of his bedroom.

What made the difference? Elisha was a prophet and Gehazi wasn’t, but that wasn’t the difference maker. Nor was it the fact that Gehazi was Elisha’s humble servant.

It all came down to their different approaches.

When Elisha arrived at the woman’s home, he walked into the bedroom where the dead boy lay and shut the door behind him. Then he did what any man of God should do when he needs a miracle: He prayed.

After Elisha had thanked God and sought his direction and strength, he acted. He stretched out twice over the boy’s lifeless body so that he came face-to-face with him. On the second attempt, the boy opened his eyes, sneezed seven times, and came to life! Part of what made Elisha a great man of God—and an example for us today—was that he consistently communicated with God before he acted.

What difficult challenges lie before you today? Have you remembered to commit them to God in prayer, asking for his guidance, help, and blessing? Whose approach are you most likely to follow, that of Elisha or of Gehazi?