Minors and Majors November 11, 2008

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

12 “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’ ”

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

22 The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

How many times in our lives are we looking for the major miracles and forgetting the minor ones? To quote Pastor Tim Moffett ” We always want the fire from heaven.” For some time, the Lord provided daily for her and her sons needs and yet she did not believe until a major miracle had occurred. So the question is, Do I look past the minor always hoping for a major?

I think this is a great analogy of “American” Christianity. We are so spoiled. We have no “Need” for God. Because the widow was having her daily needs met, she forgot from whence they came. I think sometimes we need to lose everything in order for God to show his Glory around us. We are so accustomed to things that everything becomes so minor in our lives. It takes a huge miracle for some of us to see God’s provisions.

Everyday, her flour pot was full once again. Most of us would have to admit that we do not need food to survive. We have more than enough. Our pantries are stocked with snacks and junk food and all kinds of extras. Most of us are not in NEED of clothes to cover our naked bodies. Our problem is choosing which to wear amongst the many. Most of us are not in NEED of shelter but yet we worry about it looking just perfectly decorated. Sadly, some of us are not in NEED of a Savior because we are following the rules of the religion we were raised in. We, Americans, do not know our NEED and therefore we have Cheapened our God! We have made him some figment of our imaginations.

I am at awe that she only saw the Lord after the healing of her child, a one time occurrence. Did she not see the EVERY single day provision that the Lord had given to her. I must admit that I am too often guilty of looking past the everyday. We say mediocre repetitious prayers over our meals without truly acknowledging that without God’s provision we would have none. We have truly forgotten in this country what it is like to go without.

Our ingratitude over minor blessings must be such a slap in the face to our provider. We NEED to stop seeking major instances of God and start being broken and grateful over the minor ones. We need to become so dependent on Christ that every breath we breathe is viewed as a gift from our God. He is the creator of everything.

So today, and every other, my prayer is to see my own NEED. To see magnitude of what God does for me daily and not just in major instances. My God will supply ALL my needs. That means minor ones too. May I not require major miracles to see the provisions of the Savior!