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What will it take for me to totally believe? I mean, to truly trust in the power God holds in His hand? To really understand God's sovereign faithfulness toward me, my family and the entire world?
Unfortunately for me, unbelief is a struggle I have always had. It's something I constantly wrestle with - trusting and then holding on tight to what I feel is 'mine'. But isn't God bigger than control; than my plans and expectations?
Do you struggle with belief?
In the days of Elijah, there was a great famine and drought, causing many people to die. God divinely provided for Elijah by commanding the ravens to give him bread and meat each morning and then again each evening. When the stream he was drinking from dried up, God told Elijah to go to a widow’s house and that she would provide for him.
Hold up, just a second.
Couldn’t God have divinely provided water for Elijah in the wilderness by the brook, just as He divinely provided by the ravens?
When he arrived at the woman’s house, her and her son were on their last bit of flour and oil and she tells him that they are prepared to die. God then miraculously provides an endless amount of flour and oil for (what seems like) the remainder of the drought. Not just for her, but for her son and Elijah as well!
What a miracle, right?
Well, apparently that wasn’t enough for her to believe.
Her son later becomes extremely ill, the Bible telling us that there was no breath left in him. I’m no Bible scholar, but I assume that means he was dead already when the woman then summons Elijah.
She cries out to him in anger, asking why would he come to her and feed her just so her son could die in a different way. I mean, put yourself in her shoes. She was at her lowest point, trying her best to take care of her son but knew that the future looked incredibly bleak. Like she said, they were prepared to die.
But then this man shows up out of the blue at her door and all of a sudden they have food and water every day? Her hope is restored! Only to be devastated suddenly again with her son's death. She had hit her breaking point when she goes to Elijah.
Then, like only God can do, Elijah cries out and begs of God to revive him and - of course - He does!
She responds like this : “NOW I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” 1 Kings 17:24 (emphasis, mine).
NOW I know.
Was it not enough that God was miraculously providing a way for her to EAT during a freakin’ famine? Apparently not. In order for her to believe, God had to bring her to the lowest spot possible and perform a miracle.
God didn't have to stop providing for Elijah so he had to arrive at the widow's house. God didn't have to provide food for the widow and her son, and He certainly didn't have to breathe new life back into this little boy. But He did.
Why? Because He wanted her to believe.
And instead of making her believe, He created situations in her life where she could experience His sovereignty and divine orchestration first hand!
He wanted her that much.
And He feels the same way about us! He wants us that much!
Are you in need of a miracle today? Are you questioning God’s faithfulness, His provision - or even His very existence?
What if we asked God to make Himself known to us? What if we dared to say, “God, whatever is required for me to actually believe, I’m ready”?
God desires a relationship with us, but He also gives us the choice to believe. So what is He going to have to do to drive us to total belief?
I, for sure, don’t want to have to hit rock bottom like this widow to see the miracle. But I bet miracles are happening all around me if I simply open my eyes to see them? When we see God’s hand it deepens our belief, amen? Let’s open our eyes today to His handiwork and focus on the miracles around us so that we might believe in Him.
The story of Elijah and the woman is found in 1 Kings 17.