Dig It
2 Kings 3:9-20
Early Mornings and Open Bibles
This morning I gathered with some brothers, Zach Martin, Daniel Shilling, A-A-Ron Houk, Jeremy Phillips, and a cowboy named J.J. Jennings, from all over. Over the last couple months, the Lord has placed Zach in my life. We are like hearted brothers, rowing, running, and digging in the same direction toward King Jesus. Iron sharpening iron. Zach has a bold plan to run after the hearts of men. I am praying for the Lord to bless whatever he puts his hand to.
This weekend at the BetterMan National Champions Gathering, one thing became clear to me. We need an early morning across the table from each other, with God’s Word open, challenging, exhorting, and calling each other up. There is something about sitting face to face, tired but hungry, that strips everything down to what is real.
The night before, I thought I knew what I was going to preach. Around 11 pm, the Lord shifted it. He took me to a passage I have loved for years but never taught. It hit me quickly that this was not just a word for them. This was a word for me.
So at 6 am, coffee in hand, we opened up God’s Word.
The Text
2 Kings 3:9-20
9 So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.
10 “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?”
11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?”
An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”
12 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 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.”
“No,” the king of Israel answered, “because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to deliver us into the hands of Moab.”
14 Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you. 15 But now bring me a harpist.”
While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha 16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. 17 For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. 18 This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands. 19 You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.”
20 The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was—water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.
Strong Men Can Still Be Empty
Three kings, armies, power, strategy, and momentum. These are not weak men. These are leaders with influence and responsibility. And yet they are dying of thirst in the wilderness.
It is possible to have everything on the outside and still be empty on the inside. A man can be busy, productive, respected, and still spiritually dry. He can be leading others and still not know how to lead himself before God.
This is where a lot of men are living right now. They are grinding, building, chasing something, but underneath it all there is a dryness they cannot explain. This passage forces you to slow down and ask the question, am I strong, or am I sustained.
Desperation Isn’t Failure, It’s a Starting Point
They did not seek God first. They waited until they had no options left. The water was gone, the animals were fading, and the situation was out of control. Then they asked, is there a word from the Lord.
That is how most of us operate. We exhaust every other option before we finally turn to God. We treat Him like a last resort instead of our first response.
Do you need Him? When’s the last time you needed God?
And yet, God meets them there. He does not ignore them. He does not say it is too late. He responds.
Desperation has a way of stripping pride. It forces honesty. It reveals need. For a man, this is not a place to avoid, it is a place to learn from. The question is not whether you will hit a wall, the question is what you will do when you do.
One Word Changes Direction
When Elisha steps in, nothing has changed physically yet. The ground is still dry. The army is still thirsty. But everything changes directionally because a word from God enters the situation.
You do not always need a full plan. You do not always need ten steps ahead. You do not need 100 answers. You need one clear word from God that anchors your next move.
There have been moments in my life where a simple word from the Lord changed everything. Not because it fixed the situation instantly, but because it gave me something to stand on when everything else felt uncertain.
Men often chase clarity in every direction. This passage reminds you that clarity does not come from control, it comes from hearing and trusting God.
God Will Tell You to Do Things That Don’t Make Sense
The instruction is simple, make this valley full of ditches. No clouds, no rain, no visible sign that water is coming.
Digging ditches is hard work. It is repetitive. It feels slow. It feels like nothing is happening. Now imagine doing that in a dry valley when you are already exhausted and thirsty.
This is where faith becomes real. Not in what you say, but in what you do when God’s instruction does not match your expectations. There are moments when obedience will make you look foolish to others. There are moments when it will not make logical sense. If you only obey when it makes sense… you’ll miss what God is doing.
God is not asking for your logic. He is asking for your trust.
Obedience Comes Before the Breakthrough
They had to dig before the water came. Not after, not during, before.
This is where many people hesitate. They want to see something before they move. They want confirmation before obedience. But Scripture shows a different pattern. Movement comes first, then provision follows.
Think about Moses standing at the Red Sea. He had to walk forward before the waters parted. The step came before the miracle.
For a man, this is where faith turns into action. You cannot stay stuck waiting for the perfect moment. You have to take the step that God has already made clear. You have to pick up the shovel and start digging.
God Doesn’t Need Your Preferred Method
There was no wind, no rain, no storm. No dramatic buildup. And yet, overnight, the valley was filled with water.
God does not need to move the way you expect Him to move. He is not limited to your understanding or your timeline. Often His work is quieter than we think. It can look ordinary in the moment and still be completely supernatural.
This forces you to trust Him, not the method. It forces you to believe that He is working even when you do not see obvious signs.
The men who dug those ditches went to sleep in a dry valley. They woke up surrounded by provision. That is the kind of God we serve.
Your Capacity Is Built in the Digging
The command was not to dig one ditch. It was to fill the valley with them. FILL IT.
The amount of water they could hold was directly connected to how much they were willing to prepare. Shallow effort would have meant shallow provision. Deep obedience created space for overflow.
There is a warning here. Some men stop too early. They obey just enough to feel like they tried, but not enough to actually be ready for what God wants to do.
Digging is where capacity is built. It is where discipline is formed. It is where character is shaped. You do not see the result immediately, but you are preparing for something that is coming.
This Points to Jesus
This story is not just about effort. It is about dependence.
These men were facing death because they had no water. They could not fix it themselves. They needed God to provide what they could not create.
That is the human condition. We are not just thirsty physically, we are thirsty spiritually. No amount of strength, discipline, or effort can produce what only God can give.
Jesus steps into that reality in a way this story points toward. He stands and says that whoever is thirsty should come to Him and drink. He offers living water, something that does not just fill a valley for a moment, but satisfies a soul completely.
The ditches mattered, but the water came from God.
Your obedience matters, but your life comes from Jesus.
Pick Up the Shovel
God is ready to move. That has never been the issue.
The question is whether you are willing to respond. Whether you are willing to do the hard, quiet, unseen work of obedience when nothing around you seems to be changing.
There is a place in your life right now where God is telling you to dig. It might not be dramatic. It might not be exciting. But it is clear.
So pick up the shovel.
And start digging.
GOD IS READY TO MOVE… ARE YOU WILLING TO DIG?
I am torn between two songs.
Harp’s pick:
Here’s mine: “I ain’t afraid to dig”