Being persistent and having a healthy appetite for being useful is the way to go. Elisha walked that way.
The sons of the prophets, having also sensed the departure of Elijah, have only bad news to tell Elisha. On the other hand, Elijah his master, asks him to stay back at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. In response, he asks the sons of the prophets to keep quiet. And to Elijah he said: “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” That’s persistence. “So the two of them went on.” (2 Ki 2:6)
And when Elijah offers him: “Ask what shall I do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elijah said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me” (2 Ki 2:9). Yes, Elisha did have a healthy appetite to live out a useful life. Here is his master, mentor, and a man of God who fearlessly served God in his generation. And Elisha wanted a double portion of his spirit on himself.
Many a times, something that masquerades as humility reduces us to become mere spectators. And just because we are capable of so much more, we progress into becoming critics and discouragers ourselves. The people who give up on their inspiration and do not follow their passion remain as spectators, then they may progress to become critics who do not add value, and often end up as discouragers who fight it to keep the status quo.
Elisha wanted his life to be much more than all that and so also we too can desire to do a lot more than what we have resigned ourselves to be. Though there be thousand voices that say otherwise, we need to walk with that spark of inspiration. We need to open our mouth and voice our desires.
scribethomas 