1.
Scripture
2 Kin 7:1 Then Elisha said, "Listen to the word
of the LORD; thus says the LORD, 'Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine
flour will be {sold} for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in
the gate of Samaria.'"
2 Kin 7:2 The royal officer on whose hand the king was
leaning answered the man of God and said, "Behold, if the LORD should make
windows in heaven, could this thing be?" Then he said, "Behold, you
will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it."
2 Kin 7:3 ¶ Now there were four leprous men at the
entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why do we sit here
until we die?
2 Kin 7:4 "If we say, 'We will enter the city,'
then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we
die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans.
If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die."
2 Kin 7:5 They arose at twilight to go to the camp of
the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans,
behold, there was no one there.
2 Kin 7:6 For the Lord had caused the army of the
Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, {even} the sound of
a great army, so that they said to one another, "Behold, the king of
Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the
Egyptians, to come upon us."
2 Kin 7:7 Therefore they arose and fled in the
twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, {even} the
camp just as it was, and fled for their life.
2 Kin 7:8 When these lepers came to the outskirts of
the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there
silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid {them;} and they returned and
entered another tent and carried from there {also,} and went and hid {them.}
2 Kin 7:9 ¶ Then they said to one another, "We
are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent;
if we wait until morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore
come, let us go and tell the king's household."
2 Kin 7:10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers
of the city, and they told them, saying, "We came to the camp of the
Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the
horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were."
2 Kin 7:11 The gatekeepers called and told {it} within
the king's household.
2 Kin 7:12 Then the king arose in the night and said
to his servants, "I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us.
They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp to hide
themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we will
capture them alive and get into the city.'"
2 Kin 7:13 One of his servants said, "Please, let
some {men} take five of the horses which remain, which are left in the city.
Behold, they {will be in any case} like all the multitude of Israel who are
left in it; behold, they {will be in any case} like all the multitude of Israel
who have already perished, so let us send and see."
2 Kin 7:14 They took therefore two chariots with
horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, "Go and
see."
2 Kin 7:15 They went after them to the Jordan, and
behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had
thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.
2 Kin 7:16 ¶ So the people went out and plundered the
camp of the Arameans. Then a measure of fine flour {was sold} for a shekel and
two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
2.
Introduction
·
Our theme
for this year is:
NASB Josh
1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all
that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you
will have success.
Bible
Message, “And don’t for a minute let this book of Revelation be out of your
mind. Ponder and meditate upon it day and night, making sure you practice everything written
in it. Then you will get where you are going; then you will
succeed.
Bible
Message Palm 1v2-3, “Instead you thrill in God’s Word, you chew on scripture day and night. You’
re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, never
dropping a leaf, always in blossom”
·
So, as we
start the year, we urge everyone to confess the Word, meditate and ponder on it
and practice it
·
Psalm 1
v2-3 says, “chew the Word”
·
We are
promised to know and get to where we are going, other versions say we will be
prosperous and successful, another says we will act wisely in every affair of life.
·
Psalm says
we will bear fresh fruit every month, never drop a leave and will always
blossom
·
It is
possible to walk in success and not drop a leaf!
·
This is
the kind of life we never to gear ourselves for and pursue this year
·
The Word
can help change any hopeless situation into prosperity and success
·
If your
leaves are/were weathering, with the Word, you can turn that and make them
green again
·
With the
Word, you can change any hopeless situation
·
With that
in mind, today I want to talk about “Changing Hopeless Situations”
3.
Changing Hopeless Situations
·
The
scripture we read above, 2Kings 7v1-16
·
We find
Israel in a hopeless situation
·
The king
of Aram besieged Israel/ Samaria so that they could not go out
·
This led
to a terrible famine that drop inflation very high
·
Later
people would buy donkey heads and dong for food
·
They even
went to the extent of killing and eating their children
·
What had
happened is before, God had protected Samaria, when Aram wanted to attack, God
revealed to Elisha the prophet and the plan would be defeated
·
Then Aram
devised another strategy, to besiege the city so that nobody could go out or in
·
The enemy
was now winning, the whole city was going to starve to death
·
This was a
hopeless situation, both enemy outside ready to attack and inside the famine
·
You can be
in a hopeless situation also
·
The enemy
could be on your case from every direction
·
You could
be facing health, financial, etc hopeless situation
·
You do not
know what to do and where to go
·
The bible
says one of women in the city one day so the king and asked for help, the king
answered, “if God cannot help you how can I?”
·
You may
have approached people and they could not help you
·
You could
have tried or asked people and “prophets” to pray and prophesy for you and it
did not work
·
You may
have gone to Harare, South Africa, Nigeria, etc seeking help but nothing came
·
You may be
like that woman with the issue of blood that had done everything she could and
spent all she had but her situation grew worse
·
Samaria
was in bondage and psychological dilemma, I think it is hard to sit down and
starve to death, knowing you cannot go out
·
Its like a
photo/cartoon I so on facebook where a guy was cutting a tree buy the river, a
lion came and he climbed up the tree, there was snake on top of the tree and
was coming for him, the tree was about to fall and the branch he was hold was
breaking, he was going to fall into the river/ water and there were crocodiles
in the river!
·
The bible
says in that desperate and hopeless situation, there were four guys in a more
worse problem
·
There were
four lepers outside the gate, these guys were sick and dying with leprosy
·
They were
isolated from others
·
When the
enemy was to attack, they would start with them as they were outside the gate
·
They did
not have donkeys to kill or donkey heads to buy there!
·
There was
no dung to buy outside the gate
·
They were
ready to die
·
The
lepers’ situation was worse than those eating dung and donkeys in the city,
they were sick and hungry, in the city was famine, outside was the enemy army!
·
But God
spoke a Word through the prophet that the famine or food shortage would go
·
The bible
says ...the eyes of the Lord run to and from around the earth...
2 Chr 16:9 "For
the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support
those whose heart is completely His.
·
God wanted
to change the situation for Samaria, He spoke a Word of change
·
God is
ready to change your situation, the written Word is enough proof that God wants
your situation changed
·
He says, follow
My Word and you prosper and succeed in all you do, He says I have good plans
for you, to give you a future and good end, He says, I want to supply all your
needs according to my riches in glory through Christ, He says, is there anybody
sick, let him pray, He says I am for and if I am for you and on your side what
can men do to you? He says, if I am for you, who can be against you? He says no
man can be able to stand against you all the days of your life and as I was
with Moses, so will I be with you, He says the thief comes to still, kill and
destroy you but I am come that you may have abundant life!
·
So, there
is enough Word and proof that God is willing and ready to change your situation
·
Some of
you may even be having a rhema Word about your situation, you may be having a
prophesy about your situation or life
·
The Word
needs to be activated and acted upon for it to work
·
Elisha
heard and God and prophesied a change for Samaria
·
You also
may need to speak and prophesy change for your life and situation this year
·
Change your
attitude and approach to life
·
See
yourself succeeding and prospering, see yourself blossoming and your leaves not
drying
·
See
yourself bearing fruit every month!
·
The above
scripture says, “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for
people who are totally committed to Him or trusting Him”
·
God is not
always watching and waiting to pounce on our head and punish us as He has been
portrayed
·
He is
actually watching and waiting to bless us and do good to us but He needs our
confession and faith
·
He wanted
to help Samaria and end hunger
·
He
probably looked at the king, he looked at the priests, he looked at the army
commanders, he looked at the prophets, he looked at the intercessors and nobody
cooperated
·
Sometimes
people say they are waiting and looking up to God when He is actually the one
waiting for them to act out in faith!
·
As He was
looking out and waiting from heaven, he heard some words of faith from the four
frail, sick and hungry out cast lepers at the gate
·
The lepers
said, “come on, let us go over to the camp of the enemy”
·
God said,
that is faith that is risk taking!
·
The lepers
realised their situation was hopeless but if they sat and did nothing they
would not change anything
·
They said
it is better to try, fail and dye while trying than die sitting!
·
Some say,
I cannot write O level, I will fail, I cannot start a business, businesses are
doing well these days, I cannot apply for a job, there are no jobs in Zimbabwe,
I cannot do anything nothing will work out for me!
·
Some
people just retire and do not do or try anything
·
You need
to rise up and do something, tell yourself I will try something this year!
·
You cannot
change anything by sitting and wishing if only things were different or if only
things could change! No, rise up and do something!
·
The four
lepers said, let us rise up and do something, they said we would rather die
like heroes that be killed by hunger!
·
They went
to the camp of the enemy
·
The king
and his army was stuck in the city, scared to death!
·
The lepers
say, let us go into the enemy camp!
·
Everybody
in the city knew there was food outside the gate in the enemy camp but nobody
dared go out but the lepers did
·
When God
heard those words and step of faith from the lepers, He had something to act
upon
·
He said to
some angels, go down there, mach and make some noise around the enemy camp
·
Others say
God magnified the footsteps of the lepers but whichever way, something happened
·
The enemy
got confused and ran away leaving everything
·
The lepers
got in, ate food to their full, drank, took some silver, gold and clothes and
hid for themselves, went back again and took silver, gold and clothes and hid
for themselves
·
Then when
they had enough, they thought, ah, we need to tell the king and save the
situation of those guys eating donkeys and dung in the city
·
When the
lepers were eating and carrying gold, the king and Israel was still starving in
the city
·
So, the
lepers changed their hopeless situation, they got food, silver, gold and
clothes
·
They took
a risk and dangerous step of faith and they succeeded and prospered in it
·
You need
to also take a risk step of faith and believe for the best
·
After
changing their situation, they then decided to change the situation for the
whole nation
·
When the
message or Word finally came to the king that things have changed, there was
food and gold outside the city, he said, there is nothing like that, you are
being trapped by the enemy!
·
He could
not even remember and link the situation to the Word of the Lord spoken in the
afternoon!
·
Some
people cannot believe anything good can happen to them, they try hard to make
every good thing negative
·
If you buy
a car, they say what is trying to do, buying car, he is not going to fuel it,
if it breaks down he won’t be able to repair it, etc
·
When you
get a place for school, you will fail, you will not be able to pay fees, etc
·
Learn to
be positive about life and not negative
·
Anywhere
after being convinced by his advisers and checking hard, he realised that there
was a miracle and the situation was changed
·
The
situation for Israel was changed through four lepers
·
God can
use you to change the hopeless situation for your life, family, church, city
and nation
·
He needs
your faith and step of faith
·
Rise up
and tell yourself this year, this and that situation will change no matter how long
and hopeless it has been
4.
Conclusion
·
Look at
every situation and tell it to change
·
Be
positive as you start the year
·
Hope,
trust and believe for the best in your life
·
Confront
the situation by the Word and faith
·
Go for it
and do not back down
·
God will
magnify your steps and even send angels to go before you and change your
situation
·
The lepers
did not fight any battle but they just took the spoils
·
The
children of Israel did not fight but just took the spoils because of four
lepers
·
I believe
God is ready to change your situation this year and beyond but He needs your
step of faith
·
You have
struggled long enough, you have been sick long enough, you have been poor and
in lack long enough, you have failed long enough
·
It is the
year and time to rise up by faith and move forward
·
Victory is
certain and yours in Christ
·
Rise up in
faith and celebrate your victory
·
May God
give you wisdom to act wisely in every affair of your life this year
·
May He:
Ø Grant you mercy and favour
Ø May your succeed and prosper in all you do
Ø May you regain your health in your body
Ø May you pass and succeed at school
Ø May your promotion come at work
Ø May you get a good job that you have been
believing for
Ø May you prosper in your business and
investments
Ø May doors and opportunities open for you
Ø May your children prosper and succeed in all
they do
Ø May you rejoice and shout for joy this year
Ø May your mouth be filled will laughter and joy
Ø May people see that indeed the blessing of the
Lord is upon your life
Ø May other seek and believe in the Lord because
of you
Ø May the Lord richly bless you and make His face
shine upon you
Ø May the Lord’s best be yours
Ø Amen
