Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”
One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.
Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.
“How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.
But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. (2 Kings 4:38-44 NIV)
The Lord has let us live another day. Do you realize that? The Lord has let us live another day!
It’s fitting that as we celebrate Thanksgiving today, we hear about a potluck. Did you know there were potlucks in the Bible? I wonder if that phrase originates with this story of Elisha and the pot. God’s prophet Elisha was visiting a company of the prophets. Today we’d call it a pastors’ conference. And it was potluck time: “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men.”
There was just one difference between then and now: They didn’t have any food. We’re told, “There was a famine in that region.” Famines almost always were the result of drought. There was really no food. They literally had to search for whatever they could find. As I studied this, I wondered, “Why didn’t they just go to McDonalds?” “Why didn’t they get just something out of the fridge?” We take so much for granted, don’t we? Even when there wasn’t a drought, ancient people spent almost all of their time every single day just trying to find food for another day.
Contrast that with our complaints today. When Walmart has only fifteen kinds of noodles and not twenty like usual, we can’t believe it. When the store has only chicken legs and chicken thighs and chicken wings and chicken nuggets, but no chicken breasts, how are we supposed to survive? What are we supposed to eat? Isn’t it a little embarrassing? How often don’t we wonder when God’s going to do something good for us? As we sit on the couch in a heated house eating more food than we should eat… When’s God going to do something good for us? What would we say if we had to rummage around the countryside looking for something, anything, to eat?
One man was determined to cook something for Elisha. No famine was going to get him down. He was going to find some food! And he did. He found “a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold.” What luck! Some gourds. I guess that’s better than nothing, right? Sometimes you just have to make do with what you’ve got. He brought home as many gourds as he could carry and threw them in the pot. I wonder what their reaction was. “Hey guys, we’re eating gourds tonight!” “Gourds? Awesome!” Said no one ever. At least they had food.
Until they started to eat it. When they did, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” That makes me think of a time when I was at a pastors’ conference in Mexico. After a day of meetings, the host Mexican pastors decided to cook us supper. Supper was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. They went to the store to get the food about 9:30 p.m. They started to cook about 11:30 p.m. As we waited, the Mexican pastors who weren’t cooking told stories. “Remember that year when we had a pastors’ conference like this, and everybody got sick?” “Oh yeah, how could I forget! I’ve never been that sick in my whole life.” “There was death in the pot that year.” “Yes, there was. Death in the pot!” “I sure hope that doesn’t happen again this year…” Like that man’s gourds. The best of intentions. A desire to serve his brothers. The result? Death in the pot!
This story is so applicable to us today. It’s biblical proof why people shouldn’t eat vegetables! Actually, think of what it teaches. This believer in God did his very best to serve God’s people, and the result is that he almost killed the prophets of God. Doesn’t that happen all the time in our lives? How often do you do your very best, with the very best intentions, but still end up failing miserably and hurting a bunch of people in the process? How often have you come up with the very best plan, only to have it all fall apart? How often have you taken your time with a decision, asked for advice from others, said prayer after prayer, and still made the wrong decision? “I’m doing my best,” we like to say. But often our best isn’t good at all. Would you agree?
That reminds me of the Bible verse, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). People really struggle with that one. Christians really struggle with that one. “You mean even the good things I do aren’t actually good?” Yes. That’s what the Bible means. Do you see that lesson here? We don’t just need Jesus on our bad days. We need Jesus on our best days. We don’t just need Jesus when we do things wrong. We need Jesus when we do our best. Because even our best is plagued by sin. Even our best needs God’s forgiveness and grace to be good at all.
So notice what God has Elisha do. Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” “And there was nothing harmful in the pot.” God took what his people had done, and God made it good. God has the power to redeem our mistakes. God has the power to save us from our sins. God takes our sin-tainted best efforts, and God makes them good. Can you see that? We are completely dependent on God’s grace. Even on our very best days. Even when anything turns out right in our lives, it is a result of God and his grace.
That means that every day we’re alive is a day to say, “The Lord has let us live another day.” Do you realize that? Unless you do, you won’t ever be truly thankful. And we aren’t. We think, “I did it mostly, right? I provide for myself. I work hard. Maybe God chips in a thing or two, but I get what I’ve earned. Right?” No! If you are alive today, recognize this: “I am totally dependent on God for everything, and even the best things I do are rubbish without God’s grace.” If you are alive today, learn to say this: “The Lord let me live another day.” Jesus takes our best and forgives it and fixes it and makes it good. We can’t have a potluck and walk out of here alive without the grace of God! Can you say this with me? “The Lord has let us live another day.”
But what about when you don’t have your best? If we need Jesus to redeem even our best efforts, what about when we don’t have our best? When we don’t have enough? Keep listening. There’s another story. When harvest came, a man brought Elisha “twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the finest grain.” In a famine, I bet bread never looked so good! What generosity! Twenty loaves for God’s prophet. What a sign of faith in a society and country that had rejected God.
But what did Elisha say? “Give it to the people to eat.” Elisha’s servant’s face must have fallen. “We finally get some bread, and you want to give it away? How can I set this before a hundred men?” What was he implying? “That’s impossible! Twenty little loaves of bread for a hundred men? It will never be enough. You’re asking for the impossible. We don’t have enough!”
I bet you’ve been there this past year. In situations in which it sure didn’t seem like you had enough. Not enough strength. Not enough energy. Not enough money. Not enough time. If even our best actions aren’t good without the grace of God, what on earth are we supposed to do when we don’t have enough? How on earth are we supposed to make it through when it feels like we have nothing? You look at what you have and say, “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
I visited one of our shut-in members this past week—Diane. As usual, I asked her how things were going. She said, “I have had a really awful couple of months.” She went on to describe surgeries and infections and trouble with other people and despair and depression. She talked about how she had really started to doubt God. She said, “How am I supposed to handle all this? I can’t! How am I supposed to handle all this?” I was sitting there thinking to myself, “What can I say?” But before I could answer, she said, “But I realized something. I don’t have to. A light bulb went on in my mind. I don’t have to. Jesus can handle it. I don’t have to.” She’s right!
Elisha said to his servant: “Give to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.” Twenty loaves for a hundred men? That was way more than enough with God. God has a tendency to take what we have and make it more than enough. He took what they had—twenty loaves of bread—and he made it more than enough for a hundred men. How many times has that happened to you over the past year? It didn’t seem like you would have enough, but God took what you had, and he made it more than enough? When you have nothing, God takes your nothing, and he makes it everything you need and more.
I hope this miracle reminds you of Jesus. He did something like this. Only bigger. Way bigger. Remember what Jesus did? He didn’t feed a hundred with twenty loaves. He fed five thousand men and their families with just five loaves and two fish. That’s power! God has a tendency to take what we have and make it more than enough. So Jesus teaches us to pray to our heavenly Father, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Is God good for it? Absolutely! It is a blessing to depend completely on God and not on yourself. The Lord has let us live another day.
But there’s more to “live” than daily bread. There’s more to life than food. Right after he fed the five thousand, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). What was he talking about? Jesus explained, “My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40). Jesus doesn’t just offer us bread to eat. He offers us himself. He gave his own body and blood on the cross to forgive our sins and give us real life, life with God now and eternal life in heaven. Whoever believes in Jesus has life.
Even when you don’t get better, even when death comes, you still get to live another day. And another day. And another day. In heaven! When we go around mumbling, “How can I?”, Jesus says, “You don’t have to. I will. Trust in me! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.”
The Lord has let us live another day. Do you realize that? The Lord has let us live another day. Our Savior God has let us live another day by redeeming us through Jesus and providing absolutely everything we need and have by his grace. When you recognize that, do you know what you say? Thank you! Thank you Jesus for providing our daily bread today—and more than just gourd soup. Thank you Jesus for taking our sin-tainted best and making it good. Thank you Jesus for taking our nothing and making it more than enough. Thank you Jesus for taking our sins and giving us forgiveness. Thank you Jesus for dying our death and giving us life. When you’re at your very best, remember, “The Lord has let me live another day.” When you feel like you have nothing, remember, “The Lord has let me live another day.” Jesus, thank you!
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