How do we react in times of pressure?

Many people serve God using leadership and command patterns that are not suitable for the leadership that Christ exemplifies.

We see Jesus that He becomes 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 in the world, where those who have power like the king of Syria rule over the who are under his command but serve as humility, with simplicity of heart, not oppressively and this is what truly makes them similar to the Son of God who served others and symbolically washed the feet of those He served.

Now we move on to another moment in this very interesting story when the king of Israel says that he read the letters that the king of Syria sent him, tore his clothes and said: "Am I God who kills and gives life so that this one" referring to the king of Syria "send to me to heal a man of his leprosy? Consider now and see how he seeks 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 to the king of Israel to say: "Why have you torn your clothes? Come to me and you will know that there is a prophet in Israel."

An interesting contrast is made here between as two almost-person segments, two as entities within the Kingdom of God. On the one hand the people who do not know the power of God, the supernatural power of God and the people who know how to have access to the power that is enclosed in the Kingdom of God.

The king of Israel is a mediocre man in his faith, he does not know mysteries, he does not know supernatural life. He is an impure and lukewarm king in the things of faith while Elisha is a man who knows the power of God and has experience in the use of the anointing and the spiritual movement of the Holy Spirit. And it occurs to me that there is here a contrast between these two sectors of the Church of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Church.

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

Tearing clothes in those times was like a way of showing mourning and sadness, and despair; it was a way of admitting that a great tragedy has occurred and that it has no solution. The king of Israel understands that what is happening here is that the king of Syria is looking for an excuse to come and invade and make war on him.

Notice how interesting that when one does not know the power of God and the move of God, many times one interprets the pressures that come to life, the difficulties as an indication of the abandonment of God and an occasion to get depressed, when in reality we have to see many times those times of great pressure in our lives as opportunities, like: ok 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 allow me to pass dry?

When one has a knowledge of the true power of God, many times the occasions of testing are occasions like prophetic rejoicing almost of one saying: wow, here is an opportunity for God to manifest His Power and when I come out of this test, I will testify of Almighty God who took me out of my anguish, took me out of my difficulty, took me out of the hole as the psalmist says, right?

The psalmist David found himself many times in the pit pursued by his enemies, in difficult situations and a passage that I love is in the Psalm, I think it is in Psalm 40 that says: "I patiently waited for Jehovah and he bowed down to me and he heard my cry, and brought me out of the pit of despair, out of the muddy well. He set my feet on a rock, made my steps straight, and then put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God. Many will see this and fear, and they will trust in Jehovah. "

That is to say: many times when test situations come, if we truly know the power of God, we will see that God is preparing something. Instead of despairing we are going to get on fire, we are going to rise up, we are going to wage war against our oppressor and cry out to God, and trust that God is going to get us out somehow.

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

And he says to the king of Israel: why do you despair, why do you lie on the floor and tear your clothes, and throw ashes on your head? it is not so bad. 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 that every day I enter more and more in His intimacy so that I will be able to resist times of trial, difficulty, waiting and not despair but say: I know that my redeemer lives, that I will see and that sooner or later he will glorify himself in this test and this difficulty.

What a difference right? there is a whole poor Church, weak, devoid of the power of God. Religious people, pious people but who do not know the God who opens the Red Sea and destroys the army of Egypt in our favor. The God who works miracles and wonders, the God who is the same today, yesterday and forever.

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

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

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