“Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.” When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body. He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”” 2 Kings 6:24-31 NIV
This king and the people he led were in a very desperate place. The enemy had surrounded their city and cut off the food supply for a very long time. The people were literally starving to death in their own city! This king felt the pain of his people, he understood the seriousness of the situation and he mourned, as he should have. But, instead of turning from his sin, he blamed God. How many times, when our poor choices get us into desperate situations, do we blame God, instead of confessing our own sin and seeking His forgiveness and help?
Difficult times will either cause us to soften our hearts toward the Lord and seek Him more intently or harden our hearts and blame Him for our suffering. We don’t often get to choose the circumstances we face, but we always get to choose how we respond to them!
The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” 2 Kings 6:33b NIV
“Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”” 2 Kings 7:1-2 NIV
God had the situation under control! The suffering was about to end, but the king’s officer didn’t have the faith to believe the words of the prophet. He gave up on God to soon! Don’t give up on God in your suffering!
“At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.” 2 Kings 7:5-7 NIV
God can bring hope into any situation. He can do the impossible. The Israelites were no match for the Arameans, but the Arameans were no match for God. When God is on your side, no situation is hopeless!
“The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’ ”” 2 Kings 7:12 NIV
When you see a small light at the end of the tunnel, let your faith grow, don’t assume the worse, like this king did.
“So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said.” 2 Kings 7:14-16 NIV
The word of the Lord, through the prophet Elisha, came to pass. The people had more than enough food to eat! The suffering had ended. That’s the thing about suffering, it eventually ends. Keep that perspective. Seek God in the midst of hard times and hold onto your faith. Don’t let the pain make you blame God, but allow it to draw you closer to Him.
The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died. 2 Kings 7:19-20 NIV
When we blame God and give up too soon, refusing to believe that He will bring an end to our suffering, often times relief comes, but we don’t get the benefit of enjoying it! The moral of the story is this, guard your heart when life is hard. Be sure your own sin isn’t to blame for the situation and make the necessary changes if it is. Never give up on God! Seek Him with all your heart and trust that in His time, relief will come.