BELIEVING WHAT THE LORD SAID

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said.

"How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says:

'They will eat and have some left over.' "

Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

2 Kings 4:42-44

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Chapter 4 of 2 Kings ends, we find a “man…from Baal Shalishah” come to Elisha with an offering…”twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain”. Now typically, the first fruits of the harvest were to be brought to the priests (Deuteronomy 18:3-5) but in this case, Elisha is seen as a truer representative of the Lord over the priests who had allowed themselves to be apostate.

So presented with the loaves and grain, Elisha tells his servant to "Give it to the people to eat.”

This created an immediate concern from the servant. For there were 100 men that needed fed and 20 loaves wouldn’t be enough.

But Elisha persisted and told the servant again, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: 'They will eat and have some left over.' "

And sure enough, when the servant set the food before the 100 men, “they ate and had some left over” just as the Lord said.

Now this story serves as a preamble for what will come later when Jesus pulls off an even bigger miracle, feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish…and then follow this up by feeding the four thousand with seven loaves and a few small fish. But I want to focus on some important words that Elisha used to his servant as he tried to convince him that the 20 loaves would be enough to feed the 100 men.

Did you catch what Elisha said?

He told his servant to go ahead and feed the men, not because he said the number of loaves would be sufficient, but rather because the Lord has said so. And as we read, the Lord said there would even be some left over…and there was.

Question: How often do we forget what the Lord said as we deal with life’s circumstances?

For God’s word is filled with His wonderful, blessed promises and assurances…and yet we, like the servant who doubted that the 20 loaves would be enough, fail to believe that what God says is true, until it really happens.

Hasn’t God shown us enough already that He will do what He says?

Let’s look at some places in scripture where He did just that.

Go to Genesis 18, verse 10, and you’ll hear the Lord tell Abraham, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."

The result? Abraham and Sarah had a son and he was named Isaac. (Genesis 21:1-7)

God did what He said He would do.

Go to Exodus, Chapter 14. The Israelites had fled Pharaoh and Egypt under the leadership of Moses. As they had crossed over through the parted seas on dry land, Pharaoh and his men were in pursuit. Would Israel perish at the hands of the Egyptians?

No, because the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen." (Exodus 14:26-27)

And Moses did what the Lord told him to do.

The end result?

The Lord caused the sea to go back in its place and the Egyptians were swept into the sea.

Again, God did what He said He would do.

Once safe from the Egyptians, the Israelites ran into new worries as they traveled toward Mount Sinai. They ran out of food and were afraid they would starve in the desert wilderness.

But the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.” (Exodus 16:4)

And what happened?

Manna fell from heaven along with quail to feed Israel.

God did what He said He would do.

Finally, remember Gideon?

The Lord had told him that He would hand over the mighty Midianites to him with 300 men. (Judges 7:7)

And that’s exactly what happened.

Gideon trusted the God and God did what He said He would do.

I could go on and on and on about places in scripture where God said He would do something and then did it but you should have the point by now.

Friends, God delivers on His word. He did when He created all things…just look at Genesis, Chapter 1. He did in the earliest days of mankind as we have covered in this message. And He continues to do so today.

So when you’re feeling unsure about life and whether things can work out or not…go to the scriptures…because somewhere within, God said it would work out…if you just trust in Him and believe what He said.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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