After a terrible famine strikes Samaria, Joram, king of Israel, sends an emissary to Elisha. The prophet is concerned that the king wishes to kill him due to his rebukes and curses. The prophet then tells the messenger that food prices will plummet the very next day. The king’s envoy is skeptical, but Elisha insists that his predictions will come true. Four men with leprosy stand at the gates of Samaria, desperate for food–representing the terrible recession afflicting the nation. The men decide to take a risk and enter the Aramean camp. When they arrive, they find it completely empty and abandoned. God had caused Israel’s enemies to hear the sounds of a large army approaching and subsequently flee. The four men take spoils from the camp and rush to inform the city’s residents about what they witnessed. Difficult times are a gift from heaven. They allow us to wake up, take action, and make reparations. Every crisis contains a degree of revelation that can help us reclaim control over our lives.
“Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria” (2 Kings 7:1)
“For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us” (2 Kings 7:6)
Self-control relates to the principle of restriction; it is the ability to feel and notice without responding reactively.
