Keep your eyes on the LORD

2 Kings 2:1-14

Verse 1– And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

Verse 9-14– And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

My personal distractions

The same theme runs through the Bible and is still true today: that humans become distracted with the world. I can lose focus on the Lord and be consumed with my job, or with my family affairs, and also with things like entertainment.

As a man, my thoughts can be dominated by being a good provider and protector. I get “caught up” thinking about my ambition to continually progress my skills and abilities in my career. There are always alluring ideas to get promoted to make more money. I have always wanted to have a piece of property so that I could raise some animals, and also have the space to freely live a country-style life. Nowadays, this can be very expensive and impractical. My desire to live in the country can motivate me to work harder and become more competent in order to get promoted so I make enough money to afford this lifestyle, which can result in a loss of focus for the Lord’s work. Instead of acknowledging opportunities to witness to my co-workers, or ask questions about their beliefs, and share the Gospel, it can be easy to put on blinders and focus my attention on working.

Family issues commonly pull people away from the Lord. I lived a godless lifestyle for a long time and my decisions dramatically caused a lot of damage. I had a child with an ex before I got saved and started seeking the Lord. Even though I’m walking with Jesus now, that doesn’t mean all of my past decisions don’t have repercussions. My daughter lives in a broken home. The situation she is in causes her a lot of trauma. I carry a lot of guilt and remorse for my actions as well. All praise to God for being a healer and a redeemer because I know He can bring everyone involved comfort and healing. My daughter got saved last year and I can see the Lord working in our lives. I’m very grateful that our story can show the power of God’s grace and love, but at the same time, if I was seeking the Lord, and was saved, this situation could have been avoided. Instead of satisfying the lust of the flesh and self-medicating to avoid pain in my early adult years, I should have been focused on God. I wanted to drink alcohol, have sex, do drugs, fist fight, and have worldly eyes instead of keeping my focus on God.

Entertainment has also been an inadequate distraction. I used to get caught up in wanting to travel. I would daydream about going to other countries to have fun. I’m not saying that traveling is necessarily a bad thing but I am saying it is if it dominates your life choices. Traveling can be expensive and it would be easy to dedicate all of our disposable income towards things like plane tickets, hotels, and food.

There are plenty of things that can go into the category of “entertainment.” I’m sure most of us spend way too much time scrolling on social media when we could be reading our Bibles, or being in prayer, and things like soul winning or sharing the Gospel. I know some people are obsessed with movies, or Legos, or painting, or fishing, or shopping, etc. The list is long for worldly distractions.

How we can use this story to help us look inward

You see, I love this story in the Bible about Elisha keeping his eye on Elijah as he is taken up to heaven. God gives us a great picture here. I think it can be used as an example for us to keep our eyes on the Lord even through all the distractions that life will bring.

Can you imagine being Elisha in this scenario? I challenge you to really think about this situation to try and grasp the severity of what is happening. So many intense things are going on at once.

Elisha knows he is about to lose his best friend and mentor and someone he deeply loves. He is reminded of this three different times before Elijah is taken away. In verses 2, 4, and 6, Elijah has to go to Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan. The sons of prophets in each of these cities were there and reminded Elisha that Elijah is going to be taken. That alone would cause me so much stress and emotional turmoil.

In order to get a double portion of thy spirit, he has to keep his eyes on Elijah while he is being brought up to heaven. People, including prophets and kings, just die and get buried. Only a couple of people in the history of the world escape death on earth. So this is a particularly intense situation for Elisha to be a witness of.

Not only does he have to keep his focus on Elijah while he gets taken, but he experiences a truly astonishing moment in time. The Bible says there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire. That alone had to be mesmerizing in itself, but not just that, the chariot and horses split apart and went different ways!

But wait, there is more! In the middle of this scene, Elijah gets taken up in a whirlwind. What comes to mind is a tornado-type of wind. I mean this is an incredible thing to experience. How on earth can Elisha keep focused on what is important?

We think we have distractions but nothing like this… even through our chaotic lives we are called to keep a close eye on the Lord. We need to constantly seek Him and grow in our relationship with Him.

This story is a reminder to me that I need to keep the main thing the main thing and serve the Lord first before anything else. Let’s remember to let the Lord lead. Let us walk in grace and love!