“And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.” (2 Kings 4:27 KJV)
“Vexed”. “The Lord hath hid it from me”. Why? Elisha perceives there is an issue. A deep issue. And he is perplexed, but wants to know. Often as we do the Lord’s work there are issues that can be resolved away. Counseling here, giving there, and reaching out over there. Yet there are some times when there is something that the Lord wants us to see deeper. The Lord is not merely teaching for the sake of spreading information, but he means to change people’s lives. He wants his servants to see this and how lives are affected so that they know the gravity of what is being taught. We need to know the seriousness and the realness of what we’re doing. Granted, it’s really him working through us, but God is about work with eternal consequences. Healing things that they may have been hostage to for years. Touching people in ways that go to the center of their being. We can do a lot of trades out there. We can develop all kinds of skills. When we’re about the father’s business, it is very serious business.
God has a special place for feedback. He uses it to grow the teacher (see also Galatians 6:6). So it’s not just a suggestion box for how to do a lesson better. It’s a shared testimony of what God has done and is doing. While it’s okay to be light hearted and enjoy the many blessings that we have received, like the warning that Mordecai gave to Esther, we must be aware that the Lord may have given us such a time as this to accomplish work that he has prepared beforehand (see Esther 4:14). Elisha sees this and goes all out to provide healing to a very deep wound. In the process, he learns a new element of surrender to coming before the Lord. The Lord is doing many great things. There is a blessing for those that really hunger and thirst after righteousness.
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6 KJV)