Sunday, September 02, 2018

"Eradicating All Doubt"


Reflections4Life September 2, 2018
Eradicating All Doubt
And the woman said to Elijah, 'Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.'” 1 Kings 17:24
Scripture Reading For This Week: Genesis 15; 1 Kings 17; 18; 19; Habakkuk 2; John 10; 12...

I
t is easy to lose faith and to be filled with doubt when we place our focus on the circumstances instead of the word of God. God desires for us to believe Him with all of our heart mind and soul. If we are struggling in any way—believing what God has promised, the Father’s desire is to remind us of His promises and His power, eradicating all doubt from our life.
I decree that this week's Reflections will be continuous source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart mind and soul. Let this be the week that every doubt is eradicated, and your faith stirred up, as you stand upon the word of God and His promises for your life.
In The Beginning
Genesis 15:4-6 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
When we first receive a word from the Lord, understand His promises and what He has spoken to our hearts—we are strong in our faith and we will declare what the Father has spoken concerning our lives with enthusiasm and complete faith. We wait, believe, but the seasons go by, the calendar changes, and we are still waiting. We begin to count the time and look at other people who seem to have received their promises. People begin to ask you: Didn't you say God said? The enemy begins to whisper: Did God really say that? Maybe you heard Him wrong. You know, He will not come through for you. Look how long it's taking. He's forgotten about you.
I've been there. But neither time, circumstances, words of people around us, or whispers of the enemy changes what God has spoken and has promised. It will come to pass. Every. Single. Promise. We must continue to believe and have faith; even when it feels to painful to do so, or the situation impossible.
It’s Easy to Forget When Trouble Comes
1 Kings 17:12-14 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’”
The Lord instructed the prophet, Elijah, to go to Zarapheth, where He instructed a widow woman to sustain him. There was no rain in the land because Elijah had prayed so. Elijah asked the widow to bake him a cake. He instructed her to bake him a cake first. He then told her that her barrel of meal and cruse of oil will stay replenished until the lord sends rain.
It occurred to me, as I studied, that at some point in time, perhaps this widow woman had begun to doubt; to doubt that Elijah was a man of God and spoke for the Lord. Yes. She'd seen the miracle of God in the meal and oil. But it still had not rained. The drought in the land was severe. Maybe Elijah was wrong? Maybe the meal and oil would not last? Maybe he was not a man of God, but one of Jezebel's prophets.
The same happens to us. We receive a word from the Lord; we witness a miracle or supernatural event, which stirs us to believe. Then, while waiting, something else takes place to shake us and try to make us give up and begin to doubt. It is easy for us to forget what God has already done, and begin doubting that which God has spoken concerning our lives because we don't see anything happening, or it is taking some time for the promise to come to pass, while another hardship or crisis arises.
 At some point, doubt entered into this widow's heart concerning what the Prophet Elijah had spoken. Even though she'd seen with her own eyes the meal and oil; time had affected her perception, and caused doubt. There was no rain, and the land was suffering, and then another tragedy takes place.
1 Kings 17: 17-24 NASB Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”
This is her response, which lends to the belief that doubt began to settle in:
Verse 24: Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Keep Believing Without Seeing
Beloveds, there are times in our life when God has spoken a word to us. He has sent His messengers, His prophets, His teachers, His shepherds. We received the word. We have waited. We have been blessed to see miracles and God move in a way that we knew it was no one but God. Yet, there is still that promise; that one or two things that God said He was going to do that had yet to come to pass. In the midst of our waiting, doubt creeps. We start to question if it will happen. Although we have experienced blessings in many areas. We have witnessed the move of God in many ways; doubt can still arise when we take our eyes off of God and begin to count the seconds and minutes of the clock.
It is in these times that I believe God will move exponentially in some way, and we will witness His hand in such a mighty way, that all doubts are eradicated. That, every voice that is contrary to what God has spoken is shut. Our faith is recharged and we again can wait with expectation and hope that whatever God has spoken—no matter how long the wait—it will come to pass because God said so!
The widow had her doubts. Soothsayers and magicians were common in that time, which seems common once again in our time, as well. For people, just as today, say they speak for God, but knew nothing of the one true God. In the midst of the widow waiting for the rain, the resurfacing of doubt rising, tragedy occurred, taking the life of her son. However, God used his prophet, restoring the life of her son, and her faith in the Lord, and that Elijah truly spoke for the Lord.
My Beloveds, May the spirit of peace and prosperity finds permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. What promises have you been waiting to see manifested? I have a few. I will believe with every part of me that whatever God has spoken is surely coming to pass. If there were any doubt in me, I believe God will make it known, and will remove it and deliver me from any unbelief. Because I do know: There is NOTHING impossible for God! You are blessed. Now go...and be a blessing!
©2018. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.

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