Notes Along a Journey of Faith

If I remember the number correctly, it was more than 150,000 women from around the world who gathered in halls, homes and churches to participate in a lesson via a live simulcast streamlined out of Reading, PA.

Beth Moore led the study on II Kings 4: 1-37 comparing two women. In a nutshell, the first woman had a need which she acknowledged, while the second woman was well-to-do and "fine."

The first woman had lost her husband and the creditors were coming after her.
In her desperation she called on the prophet Elisha for help and received a miraculous provision. The point made was that desperation can be an opportunity for what we would think impossible. The question that was asked was, “Do I want to live in the supernatural provision of God or in the humanly explainable possible?”

The second woman who was “fine” did not want to risk the pain of acknowledgment. It could cost too much. She merely served the prophet Elisha refusing to ask for help. A big possibility was that fear paralyzed her from admitting her need.

For some reason . . .  part of the sovereignty of God . . . both received a miracle. The first woman was rewarded for asking while the story of the second woman allowed me to see God's mercy extended  even at times when we do not ask. He knows our heart and wants to call us out of “I’m fine” to "faith in His best for us." The kind of faith that trusts that when we ask, we will not be given a stone or a snake. The story takes a twist when our well-to-do friend, after receiving her unexpected gift, experiences the pain of loss. She could have said . . . and maybe she did . . . "I told you so!" However by this time she was not afraid to ask and she went for all she could. She pushed aside any obstacle to pursue in her asking until she received. The kind of faith that . . .we are told in scripture . . . pleases God.

Interestingly enough, on the same weekend, our pastor told a story of his son asking him if he could buy a scooter with his birthday money. The father (pastor) flippantly replied with a yes (he could get one sometime). The son asked again, “Dad, do you promise that . . . ” The father promised. They got home and the son went to the computer to show his dad just what the wanted. The father again, was not thinking this was urgent enough to put aside what he was doing. Before bed he was reminded that he had promised . . . and first thing in the morning, “Dad . . . you promised.” And guess what? The boy got the scooter.

With this story in mind, our pastor told of a man by the name of George Mueller who was born in 1805 in Prussia. After he came to know the Lord he ended up in England where he and his wife started an orphanage for which they had to totally trust God in for their daily needs.  George would pray with his Bible open before him claiming the promises of God to supply their need. He experienced things such as a milk truck breaking down in front of the orphanage for no other reason than the fact that they had none and could not even pay. The milk was free. A baker was woken in the middle of the night and prompted to bake bread to deliver in the morning for no other reason than prayer and a need supplied. By the time George died over ten thousand orphans had been cared for under his faith ministry.

So, like the first woman in the first story, may I gather not just a few jars to be filled and, like the second woman, allow what God has done for me thus far to spurn me on to greater faith . . . believing that, if He raised Christ Jesus from the dead, nothing is impossible for Him!