Digging Ditches

2 Kings 3:1–25 NKJV

1 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them. 4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. 5 But it happened, when Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 7 Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 8 Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he answered, “By way of the Wilderness of Edom.” 9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” 11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” 12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 13 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” 14 And Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. 15 But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ 17 For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ 18 And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 19 Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” 20 Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. 21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border. 22 Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. 23 And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!” 24 So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. 25 Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it.

I want to talk to you about making room for God to move in your life. I believe that God wants to do some powerful things in our lives and in our church and if we want to see them come to pass, we need to make room by faith for Him to move.

If you are like me, there are places in your life where you need God to move. Maybe you need a financial breakthrough. Or a medical one. Or a spiritual one. Maybe you are experiencing oppression from the enemy and it seems like you have no rest.

Illustration: when God miraculously provided for my family financially—He supplied the need that I could not

There are things that only God can do in our lives, our church, our community, our nation, and the world.

The story begins with Moab rebelling against Israel. King Jehoram determines that it wouldn’t be good to allow Israel’s enemy to rise up against them so he calls on the kings of Judah and Edom to help him quell the rebellion.

Then, in verse 13, King Jehoram said that the LORD called the three kings together to deliver them into the hands of the enemy.

We are often like King Jehoram. We claim God’s purpose on our actions without first seeking God. It wasn’t God who originated the idea. It was Jehoram.

But if we are going to see God move in our lives and in our church, we need to stop moving before God and learn to start with the word of the Lord and trust in His leading.

When we make room for God in our daily lives, we will experience the supernatural “suddenly” of God and we will see our enemies scatter before His power.

Taking Things into Our Own Hands

Psalm 20:7 NKJV

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

King Jehoram trusted in his strategy, and his ability to gather resources and allies to overcome his problems. His course was strategic so that the king of Edom would be an ally and not be tempted to attack him while he was vulnerable.

Like King Jehoram, we depend on our own strength or in our network of people. We look to the systems of this world or the self-help section to get us out of our circumstances or to find some type of advantage to get ahead.

He found out that natural strength was not enough to meet the need. In fact, when he acted without starting with God, things actually got worse—suddenly they lacked provision and water to take care of the armies and the horses and the chariots.

I wonder how many of us can relate to this. We have been taught to depend on ourselves and to “figure it out” or have been told that we “can do anything.”

Illustration: whatever is in your hands, you are responsible for.

Zechariah 4:6 EMPH

Then responded he､ and spake unto me､ saying, This is the word of Yahweh unto Zerubbabel､ saying,— Not by wealthy､ nor by strength, But by my spirit､ Saith Yahweh of hosts.

To meet the needs of our soul and of our lives we need the power of God’s Spirit. Natural wealth or strength are not enough to accomplish God’s supernatural will in our lives. They are not enough to overcome the deficit we have.

Example: Lottery winners becoming broke—suddenly having money did not “solve” their problems, but actually led to more and a worse condition.

If we take things into our own hands we will always experience less than the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10.10).

But when we work from faith by seeking God, getting His word, digging ditches, we make room for God to move in our lives.

And this should be our reality because God gives us His Spirit. We can boldly come to His throne of grace and we have been given access to the mind of Christ (Hebrews 4.16. 1 Corinthians 2.16).

God’s people are led by the Spirit and we do the works of faith to trust God and make room for Him to move, just like the saints of old (Romans 8.14, John 6.29). This is the pattern of Scripture and when we follow its example we will see God move like it has been written (Romans 15.4).

Making Room

There are at least four principles that we can draw from this text about how to make room for God to move in our lives.

Seek the Word of God

2 Kings 3:11–12 NKJV

11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” 12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

Jehoshaphat knew the secret to blessing—the word of the LORD.

No matter what you are facing, one word from God changes everything. Nothing that God speaks will fail or falter (Luke 1.37). God does not lie and He watches over His word to perform it (Numbers 23.19, Jeremiah 1.12). God’s word does not fail but it always accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent (Isaiah 55.11). Seek the word of God. Trust in the prophetic word of the Lord and prosper (cf. 2 Chronicles 20.20)!

Do the Work of Faith

2 Kings 3:16 NKJV

And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’

When we have the word of the Lord we do the work of faith. We respond to the word. We dig ditches so that God can fill them. Whatever God says to do, we do that (John 2.5).

The work of God is to trust Him (John 6.29). It is to act in the obedience of faith (cf. Romans 16.26). This is what makes room for a miracle in our lives. When you have a word from God, don’t just sit there…do the work of faith!

We Worship While We Wait

2 Kings 3:20 NKJV

Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.

Notice when the “suddenly” happened…when they were giving the offering. After they dug the ditches, they were worshipping God and the miracle was released.

There is something powerful that happens when we worship while we wait. When we honor God with sacrificial offerings His power and provision is released.

“Suddenly” the water showed up…but it was a process in the making. They heard the word of the Lord. They made room for God to move by digging ditches. They worshipped the Lord while they waited. And then, “suddenly,” God showed up.

Keep seeking God’s word. Keep digging ditches. Keep worshipping and giving. Your suddenly is on the way!

We Withstand the Enemy

2 Kings 3:18–19 NKJV

18 And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 19 Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

God gave Israel the victory but He told them to make the land useless.

Ephesians 4:27 NKJV

nor give place to the devil.

We withstand the work of the enemy by destroying every place that the devil might sow seeds of doubt, despair, or disbelief. We submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee (James 4.7).

We stand in the victory of the Lord. We position ourselves by faith and see God move. We do not need to be afraid or dismayed. Our God is with us (2 Chronicles 20.17)!

Conclusion

I believe that there are great things that God wants to do in our lives, starting today. If we will begin to work from faith and make room for God—dig ditches—we will see the salvation of the Lord. We will experience God’s power and provision and have more than enough for every good work (2 Corinthians 9.8).

Digging ditches—making room for God—is a part of living in the victory of Christ. The Wilderness of Edom meant the Wilderness of “Red.” When the sun hit the water in the ditches, the Edomites saw red and thought the armies had attacked each other and they advanced to their peril.

When the devil saw the blood of Jesus pouring out of His wounds on the cross, he thought he had the victory. But Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave (Revelation 1.18, Hebrews 2.4). In Christ, we have the victory (1 John 5.4). We overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12.11).

This is what happens when we dig ditches by faith.

Close in prayer.