In His Word 11-22-10

Just when you think you will not make it, God comes through. There was a woman who had a son. She was so weary of working to make ends meet that she didn’t think she could do it any more. Then one day a man of God stopped at her home and asked her to make him some food. She looked at the man as if he was crazy. She barely had enough for herself and son. It was not even enough if one, to be completely honest, and yet this man of God asked her for food. What could she do? He was a man of God!

Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’” So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.

1 Kings 17: 8-15

Sometimes God wants us to step out in faith and do something that we do not think is possible. We look at the reality of it and think as this lady did: “What is he thinking? I can barely take care of my family and he wants me to do what? ”

Maybe you have wondered what God is doing in your life this week. Why did he allow you to get so low on fuel, food or strength? When is the overload at work going to stop? Or, when will the job come through for your son? You have prayed and then God drops another person’s need onto your lap. You stop and wonder how this can be. You start asking God, "Why?"

Back in my single days, I had a few times when I would run out of oil in my heater. I had no where to go and scrape up enough to buy even half a tank of oil. Back then, forty dollars was a lot of money for a single woman working at a preschool for next to minimum wage. That was two weeks of groceries!

One such week, it snowed. I had no money to buy oil, so on week days I stayed at work as long as possible. On the weekend I bundled up and headed out the door to visit friends who had a heater. One morning I stepped out of the house bundled and ready to walk through the snow when I heard out of no where, “Teresa Anderson! Do you need a wood stove?” I looked around and there was no one to be seen. So, I looked up. “Yes! I do!” I shouted to God.

It turned out that God had spoken to a handy man that happened to know me. He was replacing someone’s wood stove with a new, bigger one and instead of just dumping the small one he thought to ask me. Needless to say, I got warmed fast once I had it!

I had not told anyone but God that I had no money for heating oil. It had to be His doing that brought me the stove. Just when I thought I would have to do something drastic, God came through.

The widow in today’s reading was desperate and ready to give up. She was ready to allow herself and her son to die of starvation before God sent Elijah to feed her. And God did it by making her first feed Elijah, giving all she had. How awesome is that? God wants us to give up so that He can do something with us.

Sometimes we need to get to the point that we lose all of our pride and ask for help. In that humility of mind and heart, God can work in us and change us and bless us. How many times does our pride keep us from being fed? We think that if we ask for help, or even ask someone to pray for our need, that we are showing that we are weak in our own faith. We think we should be good enough, or full of enough faith, or stronger in our walk with the Lord. We are afraid to let it be known that we have needs.

We also don't realize that God wants to use us to bless others, too. When we ask people to pray for us, we are allowing them to bless us, and giving them a blessing as well. When you help someone out you get a blessing, even if it’s just that good feeling you get knowing you helped someone. So why do we rob people of this blessing? Because we think we need to hide our weakness.

The widow did not go around telling everyone she was hungry. She just took care of her son and did what she could. But God knew and sent her help just before she became desperate. She told the man of God that she did not have enough. Her admission of need was the beginning of her blessing.

Is it time to let go of your pride and let God and his people know you need help? Or, are you willing to suffer a little longer in your need? Do you want to wallow a bit more in your self pity? I, for one, want to give it all to Jesus. No more wallowing. No more hiding my needs. I want to let it be known and trust that it is God who will provide for me.

It is good that God will bring us to the place where we realize that we need his help. I do think, though, that it would be better if we just trusted Him always, knowing he is with us and will provide what we need. Don’t you?

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to look to you in our need and in our abundance. Help us not to be afraid to ask for help, but to know that we can trust You to provide for our every need. Let us be thankful in all things, as the Word says. In Jesus' name, amen.

Suggested reading: 1 Kings 17:1-24; Psalm 119:1-48; Psalm 119:33-72; Psalm 119:73-152; and Psalm 119:153-176.

In His Word 11-15-10

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 1 Timothy 4:7

Do you ever feel like you have fought the good fight and you are ready to stop fighting? Rise up! Moses had to have arm-bearers. Even Jesus had his team and we need ours. No one can do it all by herself, no matter how strong we think we are. Look back to the Old Testament:
Adam needed Eve.
Moses needed Aaron.
Joshua had a friend in Caleb.
David had Jonathan.
Naomi had Ruth.

I could go through the whole Bible and name off all those who needed a partner in God's plan. The fact is, we have Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father God on our side. He is here to help us through whatever we are going through. He also gives us friends and co-workers to help us get through a project or problem successfully. We do not need to give up on ourselves; we can give it up to God.

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:10-13

We need to surround ourselves with people who will hold us up when we are weak in the battle, that we may stand strong for those who need us to be strong. Aaron and Hur held Moses up as long as the army needed to see him. Sometimes we need to appear strong for our friends; we need to stand so that they will know we are there for them. Sometimes we need a friend who is there to lean on, to have support from our friend until the end of whatever struggle we may be going through.

We need to be able to be humble enough to ask for help. Moses tried and tried, but kept growing tired. Aaron stepped up and took Hur with him to give him a hand. Two things really stand out to me: 1. Moses needed the help. 2. Aaron and Hur were there for him. God knew they were available so He sent them to Moses.

Moses did his best and left the rest to God. He did what he knew to do. God sent a team to keep him up, to push on to the end of the job. When Moses left this world, the team pressed on without him. Joshua took the lead. He brought the army of God and the twelve tribes of Israel to their land following the vision God had given Moses. Though Moses could not go on to live the vision, God brought him to the edge and set up a team to work the job the way it was planned.

Sometimes we have to pass the staff to someone else. Or like Elijah with Elisha, pass the mantle on.

So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 1 Kings 19:19

Elisha was working at his job when the mantle was tossed onto him. He did not go seeking for it, but he did accept it. When he realized what God could do he asked for a double portion!

When God has a plan he will carry it through, whether with you or the person he sends after you. The race will be run; it will be completed. Think of it like a relay race. Pass the baton on to the next runner that they may pass it on to the next. Sometimes we want to hold on to a job or position and stay where we stood last year, even when we are not getting anywhere. If God moves us, we need to go. We need to trust that He will direct our path.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending us helpers who will get the job done. Thank you for teams that work together to complete the task. Thank you for directing our paths; we know that things will work together for good. We love you Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.

Suggested readings: Hebrews 12:1-29; 2 Timothy 4:1-22; 1 Timothy 6:1-21; Joshua 10:1-33; Proverbs 3:1-35.