Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho." He said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over you today?" He answered, "Yes, I know it. Hold your peace." Elijah said to him, "Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." Then they both went on. 2 Kings 2:4-6 WEB.

The servant Elisha had worked for the prophet Elijah for several years when he suddenly asked him to wait there. Elisha emphatically said no and kept following him. Elijah asked him to stay behind three times at different locations, and Elisha refused him three times. Elisha wouldn't take no for an answer. Because of that, he inherited a double portion anointing and lived the life of miracles we read about today in our bible.

There were many other prophets besides Elisha, fifty at Jericho alone. All of these stayed behind and missed the anointing Elisha received. If Elisha had listened to those over him and remained rooted in place as they asked him to, he would have missed the best part of his life and destiny.

There have been three times in my life when God told us it was time to move on after serving faithfully somewhere for years. Twice at a church, once at a ministry. It happened all three times during a season of fasting inspired by Him, and He didn't tell those over us.

Anytime you feel led to fast, it's the Holy Spirit, for the flesh likes to feast. Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to spend time fasting and praying, and He came out in the power of the Spirit (Mark 1:12, Luke 4:14). During those seasons of praying and fasting, our spirits became restless and hungry for more.

When the Lord told us it was time to move on, all three times, we were told by the ones over us to wait. Yet, we could feel an urgency in our spirit that we had to go. The leaders meant well, and we received the usual one-on-one sermons about faithfulness, dedication, and rewards for those who wait. Yet, God told us to do something else, and He didn't tell them. The Lord spoke directly to young Samuel, yet, He didn't tell the high priest Eli who was sleeping down the hall (1 Samuel 3:8).

The first time it happened, we tried to stay longer, and it became very messy. The anointing on our lives dried completely up. It would have been better for everyone involved if we had obeyed God and left gracefully when He first told us to. Instead, we tried it their way, and we found that there is no drama like church drama.

After taking some time off to heal, God plugged us in somewhere else, and the Spirit began to flow in our lives again. We would get drafted into the tech team, advance in our knowledge, and learn increasingly complicated equipment each time. The Lord used on-the-job training to teach us what we needed to know to start Refreshing Hope Ministries later.

The Lord wanted to teach us skills we would need in ministry one day, but the previous church leadership could never see that. All they could see was they were losing the tech team. Yet, if we had stayed there to appease them, we wouldn't be in ministry today.

There will be times when you have to choose between heeding God or man. When you choose to obey man instead, you will stall in your journey with the Lord. This choice usually involves making a difficult decision that some people won't like.

You need to be prayerfully careful. Yet, when God calls you to do something, He may only tell you about it. So be sure to keep yourself humble during this time with fasting and prayer because pride will blind you. Sometimes, to follow God, you can't accept "Wait Here" as the answer.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me a clear vision and put me where You want me to be. Please speak to me in a clear, unmistakable way I can understand. Give me the grace to live this life and help me make the right decisions. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Also, the Creation Photographer theme of the week is "All God's Creatures" and is wide open for interpretation! Until we get our groups area going, we invite you to share your photos on the website home page. As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network.