2 Kings 4:38-44

2 Kings 4:38-44 - Daily Devotion - 13 July 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”39 One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.40 And they poured it out for the men to eat, but when they tasted the stew they cried out, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” And they could not eat it.41 Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.42 Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain.“Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.43 But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?”“Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”44 So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.REFLECTIONSWritten by James DavidsonGod’s disciplining judgement of famine was on his disobedient people, just as Moses had warned them centuries before. But God had kept a small, faithful remnant, the sons of the prophets, led by the prophet Elisha – only one hundred of them. Their lives too were threatened by the famine, but in these two episodes, God provided food for them miraculously and abundantly. So today, God has kept a small, faithful remnant for himself among a world in rebellion against him. We suffer the same difficulties as other people because we live in this fallen world, for example, natural disasters, tragedies, phone outages, traffic jams, sickness and death. But God promises that he will provide enough for us, so that we can accomplish the work he wants us to do. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 6: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)We can generously use all our resources of time, energy and wealth in the service of God’s kingdom knowing that God will provide us with all we need to do his work. We don’t have to be anxious about the necessities of life. Our heavenly Father will provide all we need. ABOUT THE AUTHORJames is one of our Assistant Ministers.