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On a Personal Note – Stir the Pot…

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July 25, 2023

38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him. He said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and make stew for the sons of the prophets.” 39 One went out to the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, but they were unaware of what they were. 40 They served some for the men to eat, but when they ate the stew they cried out, “There’s death in the pot, man of God!” And they were unable to eat it. 41 Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it for the people to eat.” And there was nothing bad in the pot.

2 Kings 4:38-41 CSB

If you read through 2 Kings too fast you miss this gem. Right after the miraculous story of the Shunammite woman whose son was raised to life, there’s this powerful story about Elisha and the prophets. I believe these verses about a simple pot of stew will change how you look at challenging situations with other people.

In this passage, there is a famine in the land and Elisha has returned to Gigal in order to teach the sons of the prophets. So he instructs one of his attendants to put on a pot of stew for everyone. The attendant goes out into the fields to look for ingredients. He gathered different herbs and gourds, cut it all up, and made a pot of food. Some of the stew was served to the men but when they ate it, they realized that poison was in the mix. So Elisha instructs them to go get some flour. He threw it in the pot and the food was able to be eaten.

So at first glance, many people may read this and say okay. He neutralized the poison in the pot. What’s so special about that? But if you think about what was going on at the time (context), it starts to paint a better picture.

In those days, famines were typically a result of God’s punishment for straying from his instructions. And we know that people in that time period commonly struggled with serving idols. But prophets were placed amongst the people to speak God’s truth and open their eyes to repentance.

In this particular situation, Elisha, a true prophet and man of God, was able to intervene so that lives were not lost because of the poisonous stew. And, when looking at it with a spiritual lens, Elisha was intervening by teaching other prophets. He was neutralizing the poison that had infected the spiritual food to nourish the people of God. He was saving spiritual lives by speaking out against the poison of pervasive worship of idols. In the same way, men and women of God can insert truth into environments full of toxicity.

When we see a situation that has the potential to harm others and we have wisdom that will help, it’s our responsibility to stir the pot. We stop being idle and allowing other people to knowingly ingest poison. We operate in truth to neutralize the impact of toxic actions or words taking place around us. We commit to love and kindness in our interactions with others to reflect God’s power into the world. We become light in dark places.

Today, I just want to encourage you to insert truth. Whenever you encounter lies from the enemy, pray and release God’s truth into the atmosphere. I promise you it makes a difference…

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