Dig Ditches!

Scripture
 Joram son of Ahab began his rule over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He was king for twelve years. In God’s sight he was a bad king. But he wasn’t as bad as his father and mother—to his credit he destroyed the obscene Baal stone that his father had made. But he hung on to the sinful practices of Jeroboam son of Nebat, the ones that had corrupted Israel for so long. He wasn’t about to give them up.
  
King Mesha of Moab raised sheep. He was forced to give the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and another 100,000 rams. When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Joram set out from Samaria and prepared Israel for war. His first move was to send a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Would you join me and fight him?” “I’m with you all the way,” said Jehoshaphat. “My troops are your troops, my horses are your horses. Which route shall we take?” “Through the badlands of Edom.” The king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom started out on what proved to be a looping detour. After seven days they had run out of water for both army and animals.
 
The king of Israel said, “Bad news! God has gotten us three kings out here to dump us into the hand of Moab.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of God anywhere around through whom we can consult God?” One of the servants of the king of Israel said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is around somewhere—the one who was Elijah’s right-hand man.” Jehoshaphat said, “Good! A man we can trust!” So the three of them—the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom—went to meet him.
  
Elisha addressed the king of Israel, “What do you and I have in common? Go consult the puppet-prophets of your father and mother.” “Never!” said the king of Israel. “It’s God who has gotten us into this fix, dumping all three of us kings into the hand of Moab.” Elisha said, “As God-of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I stand ready to serve, if it weren’t for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I wouldn’t give you the time of day. But considering—bring me a minstrel.” (When a minstrel played, the power of God came on Elisha.)
 
He then said, “God’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for God to do; he will also hand over Moab to you. You will ravage the country: Knock out its fortifications, level the key villages, clear-cut the orchards, clog the springs, and litter the cultivated fields with stones.”
 
In the morning—it was at the hour of morning sacrifice—the water had arrived, water pouring in from the west, from Edom, a flash flood filling the valley with water.
 
2 Kings 3:1-20
Main idea

We are not a part of a lazy faith, and we do not serve a genie-God. Yet, sometimes when we are in a desperate place or in serious need, we expect God to come through and rescue us without us doing much of anything. When we are in a place of need, it’s hard to believe that God would actually request something of us, but we serve a motion-sensitive God! And action proves faith. What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. And we are called to live our entire lives by FAITH, NOT by sight. So when we take action, no matter how bad the situation is that we see in front of us, we are putting some substance and some evidence to what we believe God can do! 

When we move, He moves. 

2. When You’re In A Dry Place, Dig A Ditch!

So like we focused on last seed group, Elisha worshipped first, THEN the power of God came on him and He gave Elisha what to tell the Kings…..

In verse 16 Elisha said to the kings, “God’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for God to do.”

The three kings and their armies were in a desperate place, but God still asked something of them….to dig ditches. Hard work! But God wanted something to fill. He needed some space to hold the provision He was going to be providing. If there was no space created to contain the blessing He was going to bring, than the provision would not have been helpful to them at all! It would have been poured out, flooding the desert, and possibly harming them. Not beneficial at all. Have you ever seen someone get a blessing too soon? Or something that they did not have the capacity to carry in a sustainable way? God knows what He’s doing when he asks us to put some skin in the game. 

GOD WAS GOING TO POUR OUT THE RAIN, but HE NEEDED SOMETHING TO HOLD IT so that it would actually be effective…..He needed something to CONTAIN the provision that He was going to pour out. And the same goes for us in our lives! We have to make space to hold what God wants to pour out….whether it be provision, blessing, miracles, healing……..We have to create capacity. Capacity is the maximum amount that something can hold. Because  if God pours out blessings on you, and you don’t have the capacity to contain it, it’s going to be harmful, ineffective, and dangerous. Not helpful. God doesn’t want a washed-out disaster. 

He’s like “I see you’re in need, I have the solution, but do you have the capacity to contain it so that it’s actually effective for you and others?” 

And He’s not going to make the space for you! God’s not going to do what you can do for you.

I love the part where He says, “you’re not going to hear the wind, you’re not going to see the rain” —in other words—this isn’t going to happen by natural means. Some of us wait to see how it’s going to work out before we will pick up a shovel. But God says, nope. This isn’t going to come by natural means, so don’t even try to figure it out logically. It’s not going to be logical. It’s going to be supernatural. And if they would have waited until they understood or until it made sense to them, it would have been too late. We aren’t called to understand, we’re called to obey. So grab your shovel, and start digging!

Give God something to fill!

-This is not a lazy faith that we are apart of…

-We serve a motion-sensitive God. When we move, He moves.

-You can’t create the wind, but you can set your sails up to catch it…..you can’t fill the ditch, but you can pick up a shovel and dig it.

The longer you stay in the desert without digging a ditch = the longer you’re in the desert without being refreshed.

-Don’t wait until you figure out how it’s going to turn out; just start digging!

-Don’t pray for a move of God if you aren’t going to move.

“He then said, “God’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for God to do”

2 Kings 3:16-18

Questions To Discuss

What is a specific area of your life that you desire God to fill? Think: spiritually, mentally, relationally, physically. 

What can you literally do to “dig a ditch” to make space for God to fill in this area? Be specific.

Do you ever struggle with trying to figure out how things will work out before you take a step of action?

Share about a time that you have dug a ditch before and God filled it with His provision.

Summary

If you need God to come through for you in a certain area of your life, it’s time to dig a ditch. Don’t hesitate to obey.

Call to action

Over the next two weeks, the call to action is simple. DIG DITCHES! You know what ditches you need to dig. Start digging!

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