Separation, can be painful but may release new opportunities.
2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 2 Kings 2
The Prophet Elijah and Enoch before Him, never died natural deaths. Both were translated straight to heaven.
In order to inherit Elijah’s mantle his understudy, Elisha, had to stay with him until his ascension into heaven. So they walked on to Jericho and then crossed the Jordan.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
Elisha stayed with his mentor until a fiery chariot and horses appeared and took Elijah to heaven. Elisha tore his clothes, his mentor had gone and he was now alone. He then picked up Elijah’s cloak and parted the Jordan. The company of prophets saw this and acknowledged that Elisha had inherited Elijah’s spirit. Elisha now began his own ministry as the senior prophet of Israel.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20
Paul called the elders of the Church in Ephesus to a final meeting in Miletus when he spoke his final words to them all. He warned them in the days ahead that ‘savage wolves’ would enter and not spare the flock. Men from their own number would also arise to draw some away after them. Paul’s anointing and place of leadership was to be shared by the elders. It wasn’t handed down to one single individual, but was a shared inheritance. We may not be called to do everything that a founder of an organisation has done, but we may be capable of helping share the burden! We need to find our role in the new setup and fulfil it in our way.
36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
Everything on this earth is for a season and it’s important that we learn to handle any changing situations we face as believers. They may be daunting, but we are not alone and God will help us to adapt and survive times of change as we lean on Him.
The Lord bless and keep you today as you walk with Him.