It's good to obey in the small things but don't be surprised if God asks you to go the extra mile.
Then the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you." So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, "Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?" As she was going to get it, he called to her, "Bring me a bite of bread, too." But she said, "I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die." But Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you've said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what's left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!" So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
1 Kings 17:8-16 NLT
Giving Elijah the bread didn't seem to make sense.
Are you missing the great things because you aren't willing to do the hard things?
Joseph's brothers took his freedom. He had a right to be angry but instead he forgave people who didn't deserve it.
John Osteen was believing to raise funds to expand Lakewood. They needed the finances, but he told the congregation, instead of giving money for our building he was going to take up an offering for their building. Lakewood gave the finances, it was enough to finish their auditorium. In the natural that didn't make sense. We needed the funds...over the years my father built building after building, expansion after expansion, he paid cash every time, he never lacked resources, never lacked the funds.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish." "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!
Luke 5:4-6 NLT
Peter could have said, thank you for the suggestion, I'm a professional fisherman so I don't really need the advice but he chose to be obedient.
When Victoria and Joel were first married they lived in this townhome. It's a very beautiful place. A couple of years later they had a desire to buy a house. They put the townhome on the market. It sold very quickly. A few months later thet found this old, rundown, beat-up house but it was in a nice neighborhood close into the city. It didn't make sense to our mind but in our spirit we felt an incredible peace. Victoria looked at me and said, "Joel, this is the house for us. Let's buy it, fix it up and live in it". They bought the house, fixed it up, lived in it. Six months later a man knocked on their door, unannounced: a builder. He said, "I'd like to buy this property and build two houses on it". Joel said, "I'm sorry. Property is not for sale". He said, "Let me ask you how much did you pay for it"? Joel told him what he paid. He said, "How about I pay you double"? Joel said, "Like I said, we'd love to sell it". They sold that old rundown beat-up house and got a brand new house on the same piece of property.
-Jeniro on the go!
.
.
.
.
.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment