Day 113: 2 Kings 1:9 - 4:23

This is the part where we see the power of God move from one man to his successor. I love this story because it seems like we've read so many stories so far where one man passed away, but the next to come was totally immoral and corrupt and tore down everything his predecessor had done. When Elijah was taken up into the sky, Elisha didn't just start out on his own mission, the steps that he walked and the things that he did became a continuation of what Elijah had started. I believe that each one of us is called by God not to start out on our own mission and do our own thing, but that the call on our lives would be a continuation of one already started either by another person before us or even by God Himself. There's so much encouragement to glean from this passage. It's easy to look at a spiritual mentor and feel like there's no way I would ever be able to match up to that spiritually, but the truth is, just like Elisha, God doesn't simply want me to start over fresh when that person is done, I will cary the mantle once it's been handed off and God has given me the potential to go farther and do more than those before me could've ever dreamed of!

- Lord, prepare my heart to carry the torch whenever the time comes. Help me to not just assume that those above me will always be there because there will come a day when You are the only One I can rely on and I know that it's Your will for me to be in the right position to take the mantle and run faster and farther than those before me ever could have. -