Direction and Purpose (A Contrast)

But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” [2 Kings 5.8]

Elisha made a pretty bold statement here, did he not?

As I prayed today, before reading the Bible, it came to me that "direction" and "purpose" were two different things.

What I see here in the response of Elisha is "purpose" more than "direction."

Direction is great - we all need it - but direction without purpose is useless really. However, if we have purpose, all the direction in the world lies before us. If we truly understand our purpose, the Kingdom of God, then direction is natural.

Elisha understood his purpose. Purpose will cause Kingdom declarations to come from our mouths. Kingdom declarations are just that - declarations of the Kingdom upon whatever it encounters. In other words, it is declaring the way things are "in heaven" over the way things are here on earth. It is giving priority to God's ways. It is representing heaven, for all its resources (all that belongs to God), on and to the earth.

I am thinking just now of Elisha requiring a musician to play the harp in a recent OYCB reading (2 Kings 3). It seems at first that Elisha was seeking direction from God. However, his response was unusual - he did not really tell anyone 'what to do' but instead told them 'how it would be.' I am thinking Elisha was not seeking direction from God as much as he was meditating (by music) on his purpose - the Kingdom of God (and the Kingdom of God is ALWAYS victorious). As it turned out, his prophecy was 100% accurate.

Elisha didn't need direction. He had purpose. Purpose transcends direction.

To be sure, direction depends on purpose. However, purpose does not depend upon direction.

Father, I am grateful for these thoughts today. Help me to focus more on purpose and naturally find direction as a result. Most of all, help me avoid fabricating direction without purpose...