Sunday, May 19, 2013

No More Doubts

Reflections May 19th, 2013
No More Doubts”
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...
It is so easy to lose faith and to be filled with doubt when we place our focus upon the circumstances instead of the word of God. God desires for you to believe Him with all of your hearts. And if you are struggling in any way—believing what God has promised you, then allow the Father to remind you of His promises and His power, so that you will have no more doubts.
I declare and decree that this week's Reflections will be a constant and continuous source of encouragement for your heart, mind, and soul. This is the week that all doubts will be eradicated, and your faith stirred up, as you stand upon the word of God and His promises to you.
Let's face it; when we first receive a word from the Lord, and we 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. Then time happens. We wait, and we believe, but the seasons go by, the calendar changes and we are still waiting. Others 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 know; 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.
During my study time this week, I was reading 1 Kings 17. The Lord told the prophet Elijah to go to Zarapheth where He had instructed a widow woman to sustain him. At this time, there was no rain in the land, because Elijah had prayed so. Elijah asked the widow to bake him a cake. She told him that all she had was a little meal and some oil, that she was going to use to bake a cake for her and her son to eat and then die. 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.
1 Kings 17:8-16 NASB “8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 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.” 13 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. 14 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.’” 15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
As I studied the 17th chapter of 1 Kings, it occurred to me that at some point in time, perhaps this widow woman had begin 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.
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 effected her perception, and caused doubt. There was no rain, and the land was suffering.
It is easy for us to forget what God has already done for us, and what He has promised when we look at the situation we are face with, and the length of time that it seems to be taking for the promises to come to pass. While waiting, we may grow weary and begin to doubt 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.
Here's my reasoning for believing that doubt began to settle in the widow. At some point during Elijah's stay, her son becomes ill, loses his breath and dies...
1 Kings 17: 17-24 NASB 17 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. 18 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!” 19 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. 20 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?” 21 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 [o]to him.” 22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. 23 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.”
And this is how she responds, which is my reason for believing 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.”
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 receive the word. We wait. We even have been blessed and seen miracles and God move in such a way that we were certain it was 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. And in the midst of our waiting, we begin to doubt. We begin to question if it will surely come to pass. 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 every doubt is eradicated. That, every voice that is contrary to what God has said is shut up. 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!
Perhaps the widow had her doubts from the beginning about Elijah. It was not uncommon for soothsayers and magicians in that time. For people, just as today, to say they spoke for God, but knew nothing of the One true God. In the midst of her waiting for the rain, and the surfacing of doubt arising, tragedy occurred, taking the life of her son. But God used his prophet, and restored the life of her son, and her faith in the Lord, and that Elijah truly spoke for the Lord.
What have you been waiting for the Lord to bring to pass in your life? What promises have you been waiting to see manifested. I have a few. And I refuses to give in. I will believe with every part of me that whatever God has spoken is surely coming to pass. And if there be any doubt in me, I pray that He'd remove it and deliver me from any unbelief. Because I do know: There is NOTHING impossible for God!
I decree that the spirit of peace and of prosperity will find rest in your lives: spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and financially. Believe in the word that the Father has spoken to you. Stand on His word. Meditate on it day and night; allowing it to wash away all doubts. You are blessed. Now go...and Be a Blessing!
©2013. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.

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