“When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body. He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”” (2Kings 6:30-31NIV)
The bible text above reveals the reaction of a king of Israel after hearing the lamentation of a woman who had come to him for justice. What really went wrong? Well, as the account shows, there had been a famine in the land that made life really miserable for everybody. Unfortunately, the king did know how bad the situation had become until two women came to him and gave him a hint (2Kings 6:24-31).
Now, as one of them pointed out, because of the severity of the famine, she and her friend, neighbour or mate (we are not told exactly what their relationship was) had agreed to slaughter their sons for food. The idea was that she would first release her son for the first day’s meal and then the other woman would release hers for the second day’s meal. And she did release her son the first day. So, they slaughtered him and ate him up.
However, when it was the turn of the other woman to release her son, she was not going to do so. Instead, she went and hid him somewhere safe. But she had joined in eating the son of the woman that dragged her to the king. So, though what they both did was utterly wicked, selfish and irresponsible, something they ought to be executed for, it was only fair that the she also presented her son that they may both eat him up as well. How horrible!
In any case, when the king heard this, he was too shocked to even pass any judgment on the matter. All he could think of doing was mourning for the land and also killing Elisha, the most recognised man of God in the land at the time. But how did he expect his mourning for the land to change the situation of things for the people? Did he really expect it to bring back those that were already dead or eaten up by others as a result of the famine?
Or how did he expect his killing of Elisha to solve the problem? Elisha was the main man of God that had been helping the land with his prophetic instructions and saving this same king and his people from the hands of their enemies (2Kings 6:8-23). Yet he wanted to kill him. He wanted to kill the one with the solution to their problems. Just think about that.
Now, all along, he had known that Elisha was a true man of God and was always available for them to consult. But he did not consult him. He did not meet him to ask for his intercession for the land. He just sat down in his palace and waited for a bad situation to become terribly worse. Why? Basically, it was because the famine was not affecting him and his household much. Yes, they knew there was a famine. But they had no idea how bad it was, seeing that they were living off the provisions of the people.
Think about that. That king and his household were living off the taxes, revenues and gifts that they were taking from their people. Yet when there was a famine, they did not think it wise to do all they could, including humbling themselves before God, to see that the famine did not destroy the people providing for their needs. At least, they should have known that if the famine destroyed the people, then, there would be no one to pay the taxes and revenues they were living off. Unfortunately, they were just too self-occupied to think straight. And I suppose God had to wait until they were faced with the reality of how bad things were for the land before He spoke through His servant, Elisha, to them on how He was going to end their problem. (Cf. 2Kings 6:32-7:1)
In like manner, many of our leaders today, especially in Africa, who live off their people, are too self-occupied to make effort to know how bad things really are for the people that are providing them the money they are using to live their big and large lives. They are just too comfortable to see how bad things are for these people. That is why they will not go to those whom God can use to solve the basic problems of their land for help or even listen to them when they are telling them what can be done and should be done. But once in a while, when they are confronted with the horror of what their people are going through, they start taking some funny and meaningless reactionary measures that may not change a thing or undo the much harm that has been done. God will certainly judge them accordingly.
But perhaps you too are like that. Because of the little comfort you are enjoying now, you are ignoring certain problems that your family, neighbourhood, organisation, business or religious group is faced with. Yet you are in a position to help out or take steps that will solve those problems permanently. The question for you, then, is, “What are you waiting for?” Are you waiting for an already bad situation to become worse? Or are you waiting for what could have been handled as a domestic or communal problem to become a national or personal one?
See, there is no problem that we or the people in our lives may be faced with in this life that is beyond God’s power to handle for us. But God may not do anything to solve our problems for us, if ourselves will not acknowledge the severity of these problems and reach out to Him for help. And a lot of times, we don’t acknowledge and do something about the problems in our world until they become our personal problems. If you, then, do not want any problem being faced by those around you to someday become your personal problem, begin to make use of the grace of God in your life to deal with them. But if you keep pretending as though you could see nothing, a time will come when the Creator and owner of your life, who knows you thoroughly, will see to it that you are rewarded as your actions or inactions deserve (Prov 24:11-12).
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