In 2nd Kings Chapter 3 the three kings join forces to come together to fight Moab. They found they were in need of help in the desert with nothing to sustain them or give them the edge they need to fulfil the mission they had been given. Elisha gives them a word from God... to dig ditches.
Dig ditches. In the desert.
Now, without any rain or clouds in sight the three kings and those they served with in battle obeyed and dug the ditches. They awoke to ditches filled to the brim! This is a passage I never thought about much until my pastor shared it at the prayer walk we did at our churches new property recently (I shared that prayer walk in my last blog entry).
What I have been meditating on is how my pastor used it that day. I have been thinking about the fact that they received the abundant blessing they needed and more because of two things.
They dug when they were told to dig, and that they dug deep - they went all in.
In the dry, arid, desert earth, they dug them deep.
It's not the easiest thing to do, to dig when its dry, in the heat, the sand flying in your mouth and eyes blinding you to everything that is ahead, in a barren landscape, when you can't see the outcome in front of you... but dig they did.
Sometimes we are seemingly asked to do things that don't make sense, so we only do them halfway maybe. Sometimes we we are asked to do things that make perfect sense, the next logical step in the process if you will. But we still only do them half heartily because we expect the next logical reaction to the step we take. We're not expecting miracles.
Our Pastor made this comment - that most of the time we don't dig our ditches as if we are expecting enough, so we never receive the total blessing intended.
WOW.
What could happen if we just give God bigger reservoirs to fill?
What if we really believed He is bigger than our minds can comprehend?
What if we honestly knew in our heart of hearts that He does love us, wants the best for us, wants to give us all we need and more?
What if we truly believed that as long as we seek Him and the desires HE has for us in the center of His will, that He is waiting to bless us and those we serve in amazing ways?
Then our ditches would aways be deep and ready to receive what He is ready to give!
Each day I want to be ready, really ready to change the world. I don't know where all the ditches should be dug. I will have to depend on God to reveal that to me. And our ditches will be in different places, in different shapes, at different times, for different reasons. But one place I do know we should ALL be digging is in people, in our relationships with one another.
We should be preparing to have God pour out His mercy and grace in abundance, to anxiously be looking for glimpses of Him working in the lives of others BECAUSE we are digging into their lives ourselves... because we are about the business of helping one another open our hearts, minds, ears and eyes to receive the love, hope, joy, and blessings from Christ.
Think about how dry, parched, cracked, and thirsty the lands some people are treading through right now around you. They need to be filled so desperately with what only He can give them.
And sometimes we find ourselves in a dry land in a dry season. The digging becomes even harder then. All the focus is on the need and the pain. We have to really throw our backs into it then and dig harder.
But remember, the ditches we dig He will fill. And the deeper we dig them the bigger the blessing!
Then we can see His glory - we see Him revealed - and we realize it was never about us. It is always about others, about Him, about how we all can be filled so the excess pours out into the ditches of others in need.
Grab a spade, a shovel, a spoon, a bulldozer - whatever you need to begin with to get started, and see the ditches filled and overflowing with Him!
