GROW PLAN
October 19-25, 2026
Day One
Greed and Arrogance
Gehazi had been standing by as Naaman offered Elisha the wealth he had brought with him. Elisha turned down the gifts, and Gehazi thought that was a mistake. Naaman was an Aramean, an enemy of Israel. He shouldn’t be allowed to leave with everything he had brought. Gehazi’s problem is more than simple greed. Yes, obviously he wanted some of that treasure for himself, which is why he procured it and hid it for himself. But the prophet’s assistant also thought he knew better than the prophet. And, since Elisha received his guidance from the Lord, that means that Gehazi thought he knew better than the Lord, or that his plan was better than God’s plan. After all, Gehazi’s plan included making himself rich. So, he ran after Naaman, who was traveling in a slow caravan, lied to him and obtained the riches he wanted. Then he went back to Elisha and lied to him. Gehazi should have known that the Lord would reveal what he had done to Elisha, and the prophet told him so. In the end, the Lord punished Gehazi and had Elisha announce the punishment. Gehazi was punished for his greed, for his deceit and for his arrogance, thinking he was smarter than the Lord and His prophet and thinking that he could pull one over on them both. Gehazi left the prophet’s presence with Naaman’s disease. Naaman had been cured because of his eventual obedience and to spur his new trust in the Lord. Gehazi, who had seen the Lord do so much, was punished for his disobedience and lack of trust in the Lord.
The Lord’s plan is always better than our plan. Always. If there's any way in which you might be stuck on your plan and unwilling to adopt the Lord’s, trust Him and let it go.
Day Two
Man of God
The “company of the prophets” and the “sons of the prophets” are mentioned a lot in Kings. These verses give us a better picture of who they were. They were a community that lived and studied together under Elisha’s leadership. The phrase translated as “the place where we meet with you” in the NIV is literally “the place where we dwell in your presence.” They weren’t monks. They had families, but they lived together, learning about the Lord through Elisha in several communities. This company was apparently growing under Elisha’s leadership and needed to build a bigger building for itself. Elisha’s miracle of retrieving the sunken axe head is similar to how he purified the foul water in Jericho and how he cleaned the deadly stew the sons of the prophets were eating. Verse 6 refers to Elisha as “the man of God.” These miracles were evidence to the sons of the prophets and everyone else that Elisha was the man of God. It’s not just that Elisha was dedicated to the Lord. He had a special relationship with the Lord, as Moses had, as Abraham had, as David had and as Elijah had. He was the Lord’s man for this time, to spread the message the Lord wanted people to know. Ultimately, Jesus would fulfill this role. He would be the man of God who is both man and God. He would show his status through miracles, and He would reveal God’s great plan for man.
Do you follow Jesus as faithfully as the sons of the prophets followed Elisha? Do you seek His permission before you act? Do you run to him whenever there is trouble?
Day Three
Spiritual Sight
The kingdom of Aram was often at war with Israel and sometimes there was a wary peace. At this point, the Arameans were making surprise raids into Israel to steal property and captives. The Arameans were having a string of failed raids because the Lord kept telling Elisha what they were up to, and Elisha warned the king of Israel. The king of Aram was furious and figured he must have a traitor in his ranks who was telling the Israelites about his plans. One of his officers told him the problem was not a spy in the camp but that Elisha, the prophet in Israel, was able to tell the king there about all his plans. Elisha could even tell the king of Israel what happened in the king of Aram’s bedroom, he said. The Aramean ruler decided to find out where Elisha was and have him killed. He sent an army to get it done. When Elisha’s servant got up one morning, he found that a massive army had surrounded the city. He was understandably frightened and asked Elisha what they should do. The prophet told him that their allies outnumbered their enemies and prayed for the Lord to open the servant’s eyes. The Lord allowed the servant to see the army of Heaven arrayed all around to protect the man of God.
We tend to look at the world around us and get afraid. We see frightening developments and scary trends, and we get fearful. We need to pray for spiritual sight to see the reality in which we are living. That reality is that the Lord is in control. On HIs side, our allies outnumber our enemies. We don’t need to be fearful, we can trust in Him.
Day Four
Blindness
The sight that the Lord gave Elisha’s servant is contrasted with the blindness He gave the Aramean raiders. As the Arameans came against the city to find and kill Elisha, the prophet didn’t pray for the Lord’s army to strike them down. Led by the Spirit, he prayed for the Lord to blind them. This blindness was probably not a complete lack of vision, which would have made the army scatter and would have made it difficult to pull them together and lead them anywhere. More likely it was blinding them to reality and making them see an illusion. This illusion that they were in the wrong place lasted until Elisha had led them into the heart of Samaria, until they were surrounded and helpless and captive. Then, Elisha asked the Lord to open their eyes, and they were allowed to see where they truly were. The grateful king of Israel deferred to Elisha, who had given him a victory his army wouldn’t have been able to do. But Elisha told him not to kill the men. Give them food and drink and then send them home. In this culture, eating together constituted a covenant of peace, which is why these raiders never came back to Israel.
It is so easy to be blind and not know it. Elisha’s servant was blind in that he couldn’t see the spiritual reality of his situation. The Aramean raiders didn’t know they’d been blinded to reality and were seeing an illusion. They followed Elisha into captivity. We see what we look for, and we see what we want to see. Ask the Lord to give you His vision so that you can see clearly what is real.
Day Five
Don’t Doubt the Lord
The raiders didn’t return to Israel, but the king of Aram and his army did. They laid siege to the city of Samaria, and the city couldn’t be supplied with food. Soon, even unappetizing and unclean foods like donkeys’ heads and animal feed like seedpods were selling for high prices. After a while, the situation was so bad that people turned to cannibalism. The king did not react to this well. He wore sackcloth, which was a symbol of repentance, but he wore it under his clothes. This was a private repentance. He did not lead the people to turn back to God, to leave their idols and devote themselves to the Lord. Then, when the Lord did not respond to this private repentance, the king became angry with Him. He lashed out at the Lord by vowing to kill Elisha, His prophet. The king’s messenger reached the prophet with the king’s message. He blamed the Lord for the famine and the siege. “Why should I wait on the Lord any longer” is a rejection of prayer and dependence on God. Elisha told the king’s men that the Lord is always worthy of prayer and dependence. Within 24 hours, there would be plenty of food in Samaria, he said. The captain didn’t think this was possible, even for God. Elisha told him it would happen, but he would not enjoy any of the food. Just as the Lord had caused the Aramean raiders to see an illusion, he made the Aramean army hear an illusion. They heard a great army coming to attack them and they ran, leaving all their supplies behind. So, Samaria had plenty of food, but the captain was trampled as starving people rushed to get to the food.
The Lord can and will do what He says. Know that He can fulfill His word and His promises to you.
Day Six
Wait, Gehazi again?
This story shows us the necessity of understanding that histories were told differently in the ancient Near East than we tell them today. Today, we like to tell stories in chronological order. But when scripture was written, authors often focused on writing about incidents based on what they were trying to teach in each section. That’s why in much of kings someone will be discussed chapters before they are introduced. And here we have a story involving Gehazi, who was disgraced and cursed with a skin disease back in Chapter 5. This incident happened before the events of Chapter 5 involving Naaman, but the author of Kings found it more important to put it here — maybe to show how God continually cared for this woman, who showed faith in Him, while He was setting the stage for the destruction of the unfaithful kingdom of Israel, as we will see Him doing in the next section of Chapter 8. The Shunammite woman was a widow by this point and the head of her household. The Lord restored her son and protected her from the famine. After the famine, He arranged for Gehazi to be telling the king about the restoration of her son at the time she came to appeal to the king for her land. We can see that the Lord is not just about judgment. He faithfully cares for those who follow Him.
Take some time to thank the Lord for how He has cared for you and commit yourself to trusting fully in Him.