THE 'SUDDENLY' OF GOD

2 Kings 2:11
"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. "

That day was a red-letter day for Elisha and it changed his life forever. The Day of Small things had come to and end and the day of God's Power had begun. He went from 0 = 100 in the twinkling of an eye and miracles began to take place on a regular basis. The day before was just the same old same old but now things were different. This blessing wasn't for everyone though as there were 50 other Prophets nearby but they were on the wrong side of the river. Elisha was in the right place at the right time and he was ready. He hadn't given up and stuck in there, it would have been a pity to travel so far and to miss out.

When I was a teenager I used to go fishing for the elusive fish called a 'whitebait.' They came in shoals up the rivers in certain parts of New Zealand and really were a delicacy. You could only fish for them legally at a certain time of the year and even then could end up with none. Even if they were running you could also miss out if you weren't in the right place at the right time. I remember travelling all the way up the Mokau River and putting my net in at low tide, as it was a tidal river, on the off chance of getting some. It wasn't the right time but "who knows?" To my surprise I came back an hour later to find my net full and all the water was bubbling with fish. I didn't have a big enough bucket and poured them out onto my coat and into my gumboots, what a day. I was in the right place at the right time. No one else caught any and even we didn't get them when the tide came in. That was the most of these fish that I'd ever caught and it came because I was keen and caught the blessing as it passed by.

Elisha knew the season, he knew something was up, that there was a change coming and he seized the opportunity, and made the necessary adjustments. He could have turned back but determined in his heart that he had travelled so far and couldn't turn back now. He paid the price and was abundantly blessed!

I remember seeing the film "The Journey to the centre of the earth." The heroes had a map that told them that the entrance to the passage down was inside a certain volcano rim. They were told to be there at a certain time of day and year when the sun was shining from a certain angle in the heavens. They were there at the exact time and saw a ray of light that shone through some rocks and lit up the entrance. They were there at the right place at the right time and achieved their goal.

When the SUDDENLY of God came Elisha was ready. It's not something that happened often. For him it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that could have been easily missed. He'd lived for this day and he wasn't going to blow it now, even though Elijah tried to put him off.

In 1994 there was a blessing that came to the Church world-wide called the "Toronto Blessing". It was happening all around the world at that time but only experienced by those who were ready.

If you were listening to the voice of the Spirit you'll hear God's timing, for He does nothing without first revealing it to his servants the Prophets.

2 Chron. 20:20."Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper."

2 Kings 3:16-20.You read of the children of Israel being in a tight spot. They were told to dig ditches by the Prophet and would not have understood why they should do it. That night water came into the ditches and filled them up. The bigger the ditch the more water you got. If you didn't dig you got nothing.

2 Kings 4:6.The widow woman was told to get pots, and when she did they were filled with oil. The more pots she got the more oil she had. She didn't know this was going to happen and did it by faith and was rewarded for her efforts. If she only brought 4 pots that's all that would have been filled.

Many Christians are stuck in the old ways of thinking and don't want to change, so they miss out on the blessing when it comes.

In 1968 the Swiss dominated the world market with watches. They prided themselves in 100% excellence, having 65% of the world market share, and 80% of the profit. 10 years later they only had 10% of the market share and 50,000 of the 65,000 watchmakers were laid off. Today Japan leads the world market in watches. How did this happen?
The Swiss had also invented the quartz watch in 1967 but rejected the idea as it was too "El Cheapo" and had no main spring etc. The Quartz watch however was 1000 times more accurate. Because they didn't protect their idea at the World Watch Show where it was on display, Texas Instruments and Seiko grabbed the idea the rest is history.
The Swiss didn't seize the window of opportunity when it came and lost out.

Do you believe the Prophets? Are you getting ready for God's great move? Are you on the right side of the river? Have you even got a net? God has His 'suddenly' coming up and has a blessing for those who are in the right place at the right time, and have the pots and ditches ready, aligning themselves for a blessing.

John 5:1-4. An angel came down from time to time and touched the pool and all that were in the water were healed. It wasn't something that happened that often.

Mark 10:46. Blind Bartimeaus might never have seen if he hadn't grabbed the moment. He seized the opportunity that day and knew that Jesus was never going to pass his way again aligning himself to get that blessing, and was healed.

At this moment we are in the "Day of Small Things" - Zechariah 4:10. We mustn't despise this day for there is a great day to come called the Day of God's Power - Psalm 110. This is the Day that the Lord has made. It's God's Special Day. Psalm 118:24. The bible says that there will be an Early and a Latter rain before Jesus comes back. Are you expecting this to happen? James 4:7.

Luke 24:49 "Tarry until" Acts 2:2 "Suddenly" Psalm 123:2 "Wait until"