HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY TRUST GOD?
II Kings 4:6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
One of the prophets that helped Elisha, and revered the Lord had died and left a debt. Now the creditor wanted repayment, and since the wife had nothing to give him the creditor demanded her sons to become his slaves. This is when she went to Elisha for help. Elisha asked her what she had, and she told him just a little oil. He then told her to go and ask all her neighbors for empty jars. Then just like the miracle with Elijah helping the widow at Zarephath to have flour and oil that would not be used up until the until it rained again (I Kings 17:14-16), now this widow that Elisha helped had more than enough oil to not only pay her debt but extra to live off of.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Then in Hebrews 11:1 it says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
I believe that faith is more than belief, because Satan and the powers of darkness believe that Jesus is the son of God and they are not saved from going to hell. Faith is what we do when we put our beliefs into action. An example might be entering our house. We can believe that our house is very well built and it has no obvious reasons for falling down, but we can never enjoy our house until we go inside it! Faith is taking our belief in our house and actually going inside it. When we do, we will have demonstrated faith. Our faith is the magnification of our trust in our belief!
We can believe that God is real, but until we interact with him (faith) we will never enjoy him. God has placed within every person the belief that there is a God. (Rom 1:18-20) Because God has given everyone a free will, and will not overrule it, it is up to each person to have faith and communicate with God. This is why it is impossible to please God without faith. Without demonstrating faith to know God, we can not know him. I believed this is why Jesus would ask people what they wanted him to do for them. An example might be the man that was blind and wanted to see, but Jesus respected his free will and wanted the man to demonstrate faith by asking him for his sight. This may sound like a very thin line, but it all stands on a very strong principle or commitment of God. I believe that this is why even Jesus in the garden before his crucifixion reminded his Heavenly Father that he wanted his Father’s will to be done and not his own. (Lk 22:42)
Faith can be a funny thing in itself! The reason is God will always respond to it regarding our free will. In other words: Ask for a little and you will get a little! I am sure that the Lord must be very saddened and disappointed in our lack of faith (trust) sometimes. After all how much more can God demonstrate that he loves us and wants to bless us than when he sent Jesus to die for our sins on Calvary’s cruel cross! He can not! God gave us his best and the utmost in Jesus! The only sin that the blood of Jesus can not atone for is the one where we refuse to trust in him for our forgiveness!
James 4:2 tells us that we have not because we ask not. It is indeed our lack of faith in trusting God to give us his very best, that keeps us from receiving it! It is certainly not something physical or needing a great amount of faith. Jesus said that, “If we have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there and it will move.’” The reason for this is it is not the faith that we can build up, but rather who we have faith in doing what we ask! This is why Jesus was upset with his disciples when they were afraid they were going to drown. Jesus wasn’t asleep in the small boat during this terrible storm. Jesus wanted to know if his disciples would have faith (trust) to come and ask for his help in stopping the storm. They had faith in coming to him, but it wasn’t faith (trust) of calm assurance, but rather panic and fear. The faith Jesus was hoping for from his disciples was one where they calmly would have come to him and asked him to please make the storm go away. God even makes the point in Isa 59:1by saying, “Is my arm too short?”
God’s arm or ability is never lacking! Just a few days ago we were riding in our sons car and someone brought up the damage that was still seen in Washington, Illinois that was caused by the tornado. Joshua quickly responded, “Do you remember when we were riding down the interstate to Decatur, and we saw the tornado coming down out of a cloud to the right of us? Do you remember how we prayed just before it hit the ground to go back up in the clouds and it did right before our eyes?” Well, Beckie and I certainly did. Even on the evening new on TV they were talking of how mysterious it was that the tornado came so close to the ground, and then went right back up. Well, it certainly wasn’t a mystery to our family. God did exactly what we asked when we asked him to reach right down and pull it back up into the clouds. It happened because we asked Jesus to do it!
Jesus has done so many wonderful things for us. Sometime he does them in ways the world will say that they were not miracles, and at other times he has done for us the supernatural. Either way in our thinking and in our hearts, they were always gifts of love for us because we trusted him and chose to have faith by asking him for his best!
When you seek God’s help do you expect a little or the best from God? Do you come running to him in panic like his disciples or in the joyful expectation of the abundance of God and simply the mention of Jesus’ name? I personally find it easier to expect God’s best from the one who loves me the most, rather than his least. We have not because we ask not!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help us to trust you like the wonderful loving Father and God that you are. Sometimes like the apostles in the boat, we look at the intimidations in our life and forget your greatness. Please help us to always look to you first and expect your best. We love you Lord and will praise you forever for all that you have done for us. We ask all this in Jesus name.
