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Hidden With Christ Ministries is an international Christian ministry which spreads the love of God and the Word of God around the world through its Pastors and Christian Leaders Conferences in Africa and orphan ministry in Tanzania and Ukraine. Through our Christian podcasts we share practical messages from the Word of God to help in every area of your life. Explore our website to see how you can be involved in what God is doing around the world!

By Rita Langeland

Are you facing a difficulty in your life right now that seems quite impossible to overcome? In the Old Testament book of Second Kings, we find that such a dilemma was facing three kings in the land of Israel. They had planned to go into battle with an enemy but found themselves without any water after traversing the wilderness for seven days. This situation wasn’t just “difficult” - it was life threatening! Not only were they and their men in desperate need of water – but all of their horses and the cattle which they had brought to provide food for their armies were on the verge of dropping dead because of intense thirst.

The outlook was absolutely grim. They were hot, exhausted and nowhere near any potential source of water. Death seemed imminent. But one of the kings – Jehoshaphat - was wise enough to ask if there was a prophet of God anywhere in the area. Elisha, who had been mentored by the famed prophet Elijah, was brought before the three kings. When he prayed about the situation, God gave him a strange and yet amazing word of encouragement for the men.

Elisha then said, “GOD’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for GOD to do…(2 Kings 3:16-18 Message)

The first instruction seemed very strange indeed! They were to “dig ditches” in the bone dry ground, even though they were tired and thirsty. God wanted them to PREPARE to RECEIVE THE ANSWER. They needed to position themselves to CONTAIN the provision that God promised was going to appear. If they had not done it – the answer would have passed them by.

It is important to note that God required their participation in this miracle that was coming. Their action did not cause the provision to come. God wasn’t asking them to make it happen, but it would assure that they could contain it when it did come. And this instruction required great effort. The men were exhausted, saddle sore, thirsty and in a hot, dry environment and yet they had to DIG DITCHES! No doubt this took great effort when they felt like they had little strength left. When you are in great need and have been walking through difficulty for a long time, you may feel like this too! In spite of how you may feel, God wants you to prepare to receive the answer!

The next part of this message from God seemed cryptic – yet it is very important to understand. God told them, “You won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain…” When wind suddenly comes up, it is a sign of hope that clouds and rain are on the way. Yet God told them not to expect that. This meant that they would have no outward sign of encouragement that water was going to appear. They were being required by God to believe Him when there was no tangible evidence that His promise would come to pass. When you are in the midst of a problem, God requires you to believe He will come through even when it looks like there is no sign of hope at all that things will change.

Rain was the normal way that a drought was broken – but God said there was not going to be any rain – so the provision they needed was going to come in an unusual and unexpected way. Don’t look to the usual means of getting your problem resolved or the provision you need supplied. God has an “out of the box” way of providing your need and solving your problem!

The last part of the prophet’s message for the kings was the most encouraging of all and it applies to your situation too. “This is easy for GOD to do...” Stop saying “it’s impossible” or “this will never change” or even “it looks like it’s getting worse!” Start saying what God says about your situation - “This is easy for GOD to do!”

Consider the problem you are facing right now. If God spoke and said, “Tomorrow the answer is coming. “ What would you do TODAY to PREPARE TO RECEIVE that answer? If you truly expected things to change tomorrow, there would be some definite actions you would take to prepare. Faith always has an expectant attitude – expecting God to answer – expecting to see His promise coming to pass.

At this ministry, though we don’t have the money needed to build the Treasures of Africa Children’s Village (estimated by our contractor friends in the USA to be over 1.5 million dollars for the entire complex of buildings) we are preparing to receive it! We are doing absolutely everything possible to be ready to build even though there is not a “cloud in the sky” to indicate the oncoming rain of provision that will be needed. But because we are believing God’s promise that we will build this new orphanage project, we continue to move forward in expectant faith “digging the ditches” so we can contain the provision when it comes. What ditches do you need to dig?

My favorite part of this story is found in 2 Kings 3:20 – “In the morning—it was at the hour of morning sacrifice—the water had arrived, water pouring in from the west, from Edom, a flash flood filling the valley with water.” Imagine that in your own life – a flash flood of provision – coming in answer to your prayers. But take note of one interesting element mentioned in that scripture – it says the water came “…at the hour of morning sacrifice…” it came to pass while they were worshipping God!

To stay in a place of faith, it will be vital for you to praise, thank and worship God in the midst of your problem. That is exactly what the men in this story did. They dug the ditches, preparing to receive God’s promise, and then they worshipped God and expected to see His miraculous intervention. Regardless of the type of difficulty or need you are facing today, start to worship Him and remember to say - This is easy for GOD!