When the Things That We Hold Dear Are Taken From Us

2 Kings 2:12

And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.  Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Elisha had been forewarned that his master, Elijah, was going to be taken from him.  Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted from him before he was taken away.  Elisha asked for a double portion of the anointing that the Lord had placed on Elijah.  Elijah said that this was a huge request, but if Elisha witnessed his master being taken away by the Lord then his request was granted.

Having gone through his final lessons from Elijah, Elisha saw Elijah taken away.  Elisha now stood alone.  In a show of extreme grief of having lost his master, he tore his clothes in two pieces.  He knew that he would no longer have his guide and leader to rely on.  But because he had asked for it, he was granted a double portion of the anointing that was held by Elijah.  Elisha would now rely on God, not on his master.

As Almighty God prepares us to spend eternity with Him, He may allow the people around us who we have relied upon to be taken from us.  It may be through death or through a broken relationship, but they will be removed in some manner.  Our Lord may also allow our finances or our possessions that we hold dear to be taken from us.  During these times, we must learn to rely on the Lord and not on the world around us.  Until we come to the point that we are totally reliant on God, He is likely to continue to remove people and things from our lives until we totally surrender to His reign in our lives.  Through it all we will learn the comfort, the power and the strength of resting in the hands of the One that created us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to rest in the comfort of Your hands as we go through our journey of surrendering completely to You.  We praise You for Your loving kindness and Your mercy as You never forsake us as we struggle to find our way.  We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we may begin to see all that You have prepared for us.  We beseech Your, Father, to grant us the fullness of the power and strength that You have set aside for us.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Ever Present Lord, Jesus Christ.