I Will Not Leave Thee

2 Kings 2:6

And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.

Elisha was a wise young man who knew the importance of spending time with Elijah until he went to Heaven. Elisha understood that he had his whole life ahead of him, but learning from the man of God was more important to him than going and trying to prove to everybody else that he could do what Elijah did. Now, Elisha did accomplish twice as much as Elijah, but he never would have accomplished twice as much had he left Elijah before he went to Heaven.

For many years, I sat under the ministry of Dr. Jack Hyles. During those years that I was sat under his ministry, I had many opportunities to leave his influence for someone else or for some place else. I was preaching at a church in the northwest, and they asked me to take the pastorate at their church, but I refused because I was not going to leave the influence of Bro. Hyles while he was alive. While in the church that Bro. Hyles pastored, I had Sunday school teachers who tried to get me to join their class instead of sitting in Bro. Hyles Sunday school class. I told these teachers that I appreciated their invitation, but as long as Bro. Hyles was alive, I was going to sit in his Sunday school class and learn everything I could from him. I am so thankful that I followed this principle because it has allowed me to see God work through my ministry here at Maranatha Baptist Church in the Oklahoma City Metro area in a great way. Let me share a few thoughts with you about this important principle.

First, just because you are eating the crumbs from the man of God does not mean that you will be able to provide the meal that God is doing through his life. Many men who sat under Bro. Hyles ate the crumbs of God's blessings on his life, thinking they could do the same, only to fail. Why did they fail? They failed because they failed to realize that they were experiencing the blessings that fell from his table, and that those blessings were not because of them. You need to be honest with yourself and realize that, many times, the blessings you are experiencing are not because of you, but because you are eating the crumbs of God's blessings from someone else's table.

Second, before you leave the influence of a man of God whom God is blessing, you would be wise to build something yourself under his ministry. I have watched many people think they can go build a large ministry, but they haven’t built anything where they are at. If you can't build a Sunday school class where you are, you won't build a church wherever you go.

Third, while you have a man of God whom God is blessing, you'd be wise to learn everything you can from that preacher while you have him. Don't sit under the blessings and not learn how the man of God got them. While you sit under those blessings and get to eat the crumbs from that man of God, learn everything you can from him so that you can do the same when he is gone.

Fourth, you have your whole life ahead of you; unless God kicks a door open, you would be wise to stay put and don't try to kick a door open yourself. God has a great ministry for you if you will learn everything you can from the man of God that God has placed you under.