2 Kings 13

S: 2 Kings 13:14 Elisha was suffering from the sickness of which he was to die.

O: Elisha was blessed by God to heal people, but even men of miracles are not immune to death.

A: It’s hard to think that such a healer could succumb to an illness. This is another reminder that God has a timeline set out for us, and it was Elisha’s time to return home. This shows us that Elisha was a man like each of us, and struggled in the end with his illness. Not all godly men die peacefully in their sleep at night. Some do have to fight battles. 

When my husband lost his grandmother, who was 100 at the time, he couldn’t understand why “your God” would take such a wonderful woman away and leave really bad people on earth. I have spoken before of his unbelief. I was not in the current faith I am now to be able to show him things like this in the Bible. We are all meant to die one day. It is never an easy thing to go through. But instead of the tragedy of her death, we should have celebrated that she had 100 years on this earth, that she got to meet her great grand daughter, that Granny thrived! 

Elisha was able to touch many lives while on earth. That is to be celebrated, and not the point that he died. Even after death, we read that he touched someone’s life! In verse 21, another dead man was put in Elisha’s grave, and when his body touched Elisha’s, the man came back to life!

Losing a person you are close to is not easy. There are many tragic loses we see too often. But if we can find comfort in knowing that they are in God’s arms in heaven, it might bring a small relief. I pray God can bring comfort to you if you have lost someone, that you know one day you will dance for joy with them again.