2 Kings 3:18 “This is but a slight thing in the sight of the Lord.”
Observation: The immediate context of this statement is Elisha’s confidence that it would be an easy thing for the Lord, without using wind or rain, to fill a desert valley with water for the men and animals of Israel to drink. After all, Elisha had only recently watched Elijah be taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind. Elisha knew absolutely that his creator God could do anything.
In Psalm 82, the Lord is called on to vindicate the weak and fatherless, to do justice to the afflicted and destitute, to rescue the needy, to deliver them out of the hand of the wicked (see verses 3–4).
Application: That’s me! Weak, needy, afflicted, destitute, fatherless. Sometimes I don’t slow down long enough to realize that these words describe me, but in my most quiet, reflective moments, I know that they do. And in the midst of such reality check, I see Elisha, confidently reassuring me that, “This [whatever the need is] is but a slight thing in the sight of the Lord.”
How good God is to give these reminders of His great ability in the face of my confessed inability. The word confessed is key. As long as I am willing to keep flailing away, insistent upon continued reliance on my own resources, I will never be able to access God’s full favor. I will continue to be afflicted and needy. But to finally recognize my need of a Savior is, at long last, to no longer be fatherless. I can lay hold of the riches and might, the glory and strength of my heavenly father. No longer left to my own resources, all the abilities of heaven will meet my needs, and I will say, with Elisha, that these are easy things in the sight of the Lord.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed by the challenges of just getting through another day. The needs around me are so great, the cry of my own heart for nurture and fathering is so plaintive, it sometimes seems impossible to keep pushing forward. I want to just lie down and let the circumstances of life flood over me. But to You, O God, these are but slight things. Your father heart speaks to my need, and You fill me with fresh encouragement. Give me today the perspective of Elisha. Give me the perspective of a son of the King of kings.