How Do We Respond in Times of Pressure?

Many people serve God using patterns of leadership and authority that are not in keeping with the leadership Christ exemplifies.

We see Jesus making Himself a servant, as He did with the towel and the basin of water, showing the disciples that in the Kingdom of God it is not like the world, where those with power, like the king of Syria, lord it over those under their authority. Instead, they serve with humility and simplicity of heart, not oppressively, and this is what truly makes them like the Son of God, who served others and symbolically washed the feet of those He served.

Now we come to another moment in this fascinating account: when the king of Israel read the letters the king of Syria had sent him, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to give life, that this man”—referring to the king of Syria—“should send someone to me to cure him of his leprosy? Consider now and see how he is looking for an occasion against me.”

It says here that when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent word to the king of Israel: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Here an interesting contrast is established between what are almost two groups of people, two kinds of entities within the Kingdom of God. On one hand are people who do not know the power of God, the supernatural power of God; on the other are people who know how to gain access to the power contained in the Kingdom of God.

The king of Israel is a man of mediocre faith; he does not know the mysteries or the supernatural life. He is an impure king, lukewarm in matters of faith, whereas Elisha is a man who knows the power of God and has experience in the use of the anointing and in the spiritual movement of the Holy Spirit. And it occurs to me that here we have something like a contrast between these two sectors of the Church of Jesus Christ and of the Church’s leadership.

On one hand are those believers like the king of Israel who have not had a true experience with God and who, therefore, when trials come, when difficulties come, when moments of pressure come into their lives, react with panic and, as in this case, tear their clothes. Why does the king of Israel tear his clothes? Because there is despair within him.

Tearing one’s clothes in those days was a way of showing mourning and sadness and despair; it was a way of admitting that a great tragedy had occurred and that there was no solution. The king of Israel understands what is happening here to mean that the king of Syria is looking for an excuse to come and invade and wage war against him.

Notice how interesting it is that when we do not know the power of God and the movement of God, we often interpret the pressures that come into our lives, the difficulties, as a sign that God has abandoned us and as a reason to become depressed, when in reality we often need to see those times of great pressure in our lives as opportunities, asking: Okay, how is God going to get me out of this predicament? What is God going to do to show His Power on my behalf? How is He going to open the Red Sea before me and let me cross on dry ground?

When we know the true power of God, occasions of trial are often occasions for something almost like prophetic rejoicing, for saying: Wow, here is an opportunity for God to manifest His Power, and when I come through this trial, I am going to testify to the Almighty God who brought me out of my anguish, brought me out of my difficulty, brought me out of the pit, as the psalmist says, right?

The psalmist David found himself in the pit many times, pursued by his enemies and in difficult situations. And a passage I love is in the Psalm—I think it is in Psalm 40—which says: “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me and heard my cry, and He brought me up out of the pit of despair, out of the miry bog. He set my feet upon a rock, made my steps firm, and then put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God. Many will see this and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”

That is to say, often when trials come, if we truly know the power of God, we will see that God is preparing something. Instead of despairing, we will be stirred up, we will rise, we will wage war against our oppressor and cry out to God, trusting that God will get us out somehow.

If we do not know the power of God, if we live a mediocre, merely religious life, if we do not study the Word of the Lord or put the ways of the Kingdom of God to the test, then when trials come, we collapse, we despair, we become depressed, we turn our backs on the devil. But those who know the power of God see a trial as an opportunity for God to manifest His great Power, as Elisha does in this case, for he knows the Almighty God, the God of miracles, the God of mighty deeds.

And he says to the king of Israel: Why do you despair? Why do you throw yourself on the ground and tear your clothes and heap ashes on your head? It is not so terrible. Let him come to me, and I will show that king that there is an Almighty God. Wow, what a difference! I definitely want to be like Elisha. I ask the Lord to draw me deeper and deeper into intimacy with Him each day, so that I may be able to withstand times of trial, difficulty, and waiting, and not despair, but say: I know that my Redeemer lives, that I will see Him, and that sooner or later He will be glorified in this trial and this difficulty.

What a difference, right? There is a whole Church that is poor, weak, and lacking the power of God. Religious people, devout people, but people who do not know the God who opens the Red Sea and destroys the Egyptian army on our behalf. The God who performs miracles and wonders, the God who is the Same today, yesterday, and forever.

There are so many religious people who, as the Bible says, right, speak the words of the Gospel but do not know the power of God. We want to be part of that segment of God’s people who know how to enter into battle and how to gain access to the Throne of God, how to present our cause before the Lord and cry out to Him until we see the sea open before us.

At this time in history, a powerful Church is needed, a Church that can offer solutions even to secular authorities who do not know how to deal with the social and economic problems they are facing. And the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of power and authority, is being called to offer authorities and governments a positive alternative for addressing the problems affecting them, as the prophet Elisha does in this case.

May God raise up a powerful Church, and we want to be part of that people of God who have supernatural experiences and know what to do when the time of trial comes. May the Lord bless you, and until our next meditation.