Double Portion, Bigger Shoes

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied. 2 Kings 2:9 NIV

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but no vision." Hellen Keller (1880-1968, blind and deaf educator).

When Elisha learned that the powerful prophet Elijah was leaving, he knew he could not fill Elijah's shoes, so instead of even trying, he asked for a bigger pair of shoes! Elijah asked, "Tell me what I can do for your before I am taken from you?" And Elisha replied, "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit."

1. Taller With Time. It is inevitable that the stature of those who have gone before us will grow taller with time. Biographies magnify their virtues and gloss over the faults of great Christians, leaving them standing upon a spiritual pedestal that often serves more to discourage than encourage us (how can we be like that!). Thank God for the Bible, which lays bare the lives of "heroes" and saints, showing not just their great deeds but their great faults and failures as well. The Bible does this to remind us that even the greatest were people, like us. What made them great was not their own actions or insights but the Spirit within them--the same Spirit that desires to inhabit and animate us as well.

2. Passing the Torch. Someone asked me if I knew the mortality rate of 19th century missionaries in China. I said, "Yep, 100%! They're all dead now!" (Actually, they averaged 7 years in China before dying). Every spiritual "giant" in the Bible, except for Elijah, died, because God created them to serve for one generation. "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed." Acts 13:36 NIV

Every great early Christians had one thing in common: they died. But they also had another thing in common: successors. Had there been no one to inherit that same Spirit and carry on the work, that "great" Christian would have been forgotten. And even today, we are still only one generation from either embracing or forgetting God. We are always but one generation closer to the Kingdom, or further from it. It is our job, in this generation, to work to bring that kingdom closer.

3. Bigger Shoes. When Elisha realized Elijah was leaving him, he did not tremble at the knees or beg him to stay, but instead asked for a double portion of Spirit! Note that Elisha did not ask Elijah for a double portion of Elijah's own spirit. He wanted not a second-hand spirituality from a man but a double portion of God's spirit, straight from God. In the same way, today we must learn from our godly predecessors' examples, but our strength is not from them but from our Father.

It is easy to be intimidated by the overwhelming mess around us, and by our own inadequacies--by the knowledge that we are not "great." But no one in the history of mankind was "great." David, Joseph, Abraham, Esther, Peter, Martin Luther--every spiritual "giant" was in reality a spiritual weakling except when empowered by the Spirit that enabled them to serve in their own generation. Nothing has changed. We too can be empowered in the same way to serve in our generation.

Paul's Tomorrow, our Today. Paul wrote that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow." Heb. 13:8 NIV If Jesus is the same, then so is his Father, and we can still trust Jesus' promise, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13

Bigger Shoes, Straight Paths The greats of yesterday have gone to their reward, and tomorrow will take care of itself (Matt. 6:34). Our calling is this generation, and what we have been called to do, we will be equipped to do--if we ask. Don't just ask to fill others' shoes. Ask for bigger shoes--but before you take a step in those shoes, remember to, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Prov. 3:5,6 NIV
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