PROPHECY – Prepare For The Rain
This is what the Lord says: “Lift your eyes and see that which I am about to do. There have been days of strange warfare. There have been days of deep yearnings. There have been long seasons of pleading. But hear the sound of My abundance of rain. Prepare for the heavy rain. Let your hunger for what you hear come as intercession before Me. Birth the new day with Me. You have awaited My cloud to rise out of the sea. Now it will begin to arise. Do not allow the clouds of distraction and disappointment to say My cloud is not coming. Now is the time of My rain. Ask Me for the rain.”
THE WORD – Don’t Just Sit There; Do Something!
“Elisha said, “Listen! God’s word! The famine’s over. This time tomorrow food will be plentiful—a handful of meal for a shekel; two handfuls of grain for a shekel. The market at the city gate will be buzzing.” 2Kings 7:1 (MSG)
Israel was at war with its neighbor Syria. Samaria, the capital of Israel was under siege from the king of Syria. The siege led to a severe famine. Weeks turned into months. Food reserves ran out and people were starving to death. A donkey’s head and bird dung were selling at exorbitant prices. Things were so bad that people were turning to cannibalism to avoid death. It looked like God had abandoned Israel.
In the midst of the bleak situation, Elisha the prophet gives a word that the economy will pick up within 24 hours. And instead of famine, food will be sold at rock bottom prices. At the time Elisha spoke, there was no indication that anything could happen even within a year. There’s a coming new tomorrow was Elisha’s message. He was announcing a new day and prophesying access into new opportunities.
Four lepers sat at the gates of the city. Leprosy represented a hopeless condition and lepers were seen as outcasts. They were not there when Elisha spoke but destiny was calling out to them just as it calls to us today. They said “why sit here and die?”
To sit is to settle or to rest. They asked; “why live with this situation till we perish?” Then they took a decision that turned their lives around. They arose and moved towards the camp of the enemy not knowing what would befall them. They said; “what’s the worst that can happen? The enemy may kill us but we will die trying.” Let’s do something. Let’s go forward. Leprosy was not enough reason for them to sit and die.
Once they ventured into the unknown, away from the predictable and towards uncertainty, they discovered that God had already taken care of the enemy. The only thing awaiting them was a feast. As they marched through the night, God amplified the sound of their footsteps. The Syrian army heard what sounded like a mighty multitude of soldiers and fled. The lepers arrived at the enemy’s camp to find a great plunder of food, drinks, silver and gold. They returned to the city of Samaria as evangelists, spreading the good news of the mighty breakthrough to the people of Israel.
When a man or woman takes a step of faith, God rises to help them. When the lepers moved, it looked like a step in the wrong direction, but God had gone ahead of them. You never know what God has already done on your behalf until you arise. You may never experience God’s plans for you until you take that step of faith. No one saw the lepers’ march of faith. No one was on the road to cheer them on. But God used their faith to change their circumstances and that of a whole nation.
REFLECTION
Destiny holds a better tomorrow for anyone willing to move by faith today. When we march by faith, we march towards the dream of a new tomorrow.
SONG
♬The Anthem by William Murphy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x6PEmTNCw8&feature=youtu.be
FURTHER STUDY
2Kings 7:5-11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Kings+7%3A5-11&version=NIV
Job 42:1-2 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=job+42%3A1-2&version=NLT
Luke 1:37 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A37&version=NKJV
