Underrated, but Significant | August 2, 2024

For miracles to take place, you don’t need much.  With God, the smallest nothing can be of the greatest significance.

Great news indeed, for those who are dwarfed by the circumstances of life or who come in undersized, underrated, or undervalued.

But with God, the undervalued and overlooked nothing has the potential to become so much more.

A mother in 2 Kings 4 found this out for herself.  After her husband died, the family was left in a state of financial ruin that would be detrimental unless a solution was found for their money woes.

Creditors were threatening to rob this woman of all she had left, her two sons, to help satisfy the debt she could not pay.

With widowhood already her new normal, and now she was looking at the possibility of losing her children, she ran to the prophet Elisha with her desperate plea for help.

I don’t know what she expected or exactly what type of help she was hoping to get, but when she poured her heartful request before him, I’m sure the answer she received was one she was not expecting.

After questioning her about what was available in her house, he found out the woman had only a lowly pot of oil.

Not much indeed, according to how the natural eye sees it, but when we invite our Heavenly Father’s hand to help our most desperate cases, miracles can happen even with the smallest of starts.

That’s why Jesus taught His disciples about “mustard seed” faith (Matthew 17:20).  When they went out to do the work that He sent them to do, even if He was not physically with them, their job was still to keep their composure of belief, which He stated, only needed the smallest, true measure of faith to work.

The biggest acts, with the biggest voices, and the biggest things can’t help but grab our attention.  But it’s the underrated lowly pot of oil, it is the unimpressive and least flashy thing that God can use to bring about the greatest change (after all, He did use a little Baby born in a small manger in obscurity to change the trajectory of eternity for those who would believe – but that’s for another time). 

The widow who came before Elisha left her house that morning not knowing that what she viewed as nothing and unimportant would be the greatest thing she had on her shelf for a breakthrough.

Elisha’s instructions were for her to borrow as many empty vessels as possible, take them home, shut the door, and watch God work.

The Bible tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  When she received the instructions on how to handle her seemingly insignificant source, what her eyes could not see, she moved forward in faith to fulfill.  Which by the way, was the truly greatest thing she had on her spiritual shelf to work with.

As a result, every vessel she borrowed brought her one step closer to her breakthrough.  Every time she poured her pot of oil, another filled, giving her more than enough in the end to satisfy all the debts against her and live comfortably off the rest.

Friends, I have written quite a few articles emphasizing the little things (I will link those below).  And it is because I want you to believe in what God has placed in you and around you.

It may not impress people, but when we move forward in faith and believe God can do the impossible, He can.

While it seems the loud, boastful, and most flamboyant gets all the attention, faith that is true, even in its smallest measure, gets God’s attention the most (Hebrews 11:6).

For your reading pleasure:

“Your Little Stuff Matters”

“When Little Means a Lot”

“A Little at a Time”

“Disregarded? Not By God!”

“You Have the Power to God”

“Qualified!”

Text Free Photo by Sarah Chai on Pexels.com

“Even when…”

I don’t know about you, but I find a certain beauty in “perfection” (and I use that word loosely). What I mean is that when things are where they belong or are functioning as they were designed to, it gives me a sense of satisfaction, a sense of fulfillment when all of the chips fall into their proper place.

But what about when they don’t? When plans don’t go off without a hitch or when a properly cleaned space, that once shone with order becomes an undone mess? How does that make us feel about that job, project, person, or place?

When things are “perfect,” altogether, and nice, without any mess, madness, or flaws, we tend to value those times, moments, and things a little more. But when it comes to people who are less than perfect (hint: that’s all of us), God showed us just how much He values us, and despite our imperfections, He chose to love us perfectly. When we were in our mess of worldly pursuits and fleshly desires, God saw the deepest need of our hearts and souls for a Savior who would heal, reconcile, and deliver people, and He provided the remedy for that need through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are a lot of things we can do for ourselves, but one thing that is solidly taught in the Bible is that we CANNOT save ourselves. We not only do not have the power, but we don’t possess the capacity for the wisdom, love, understanding, eternity, and everything in between that it takes to not only come up with this plan of salvation but to fully execute it thoroughly, without flaw or failure, from the beginning of time to the very end.

Thankfully, it was God who took the initiative to not only come up with the plan but to implement it fully by His grace to save our souls. And the beauty of the story is, that He didn’t wait for us to get our act together to do it. His love wanted the plan because His love wanted the people. With that, Ephesians tells us, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (2:4,5; emphasis added). 

God had compassion for struggling humanity and refused to leave them tangled in the way of sin without a way out, without a plan for deliverance.  His love would not and could not settle with the very idea of it.  So, when we were at our worst, God was working out His best for us.  Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

He didn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up and get perfect to put His plan of love in motion.  That is a sheer impossibility regardless. Further proof of that truth comes from 1 John 4:19 which says, “We love him, because he first loved us.” 

With that, we are told, “Even when we were dead in sins…”  Even when we were torn up from the floor up…  Even when our lives contradicted everything He wanted for us…  Even when we were going nowhere fast…  Even when we were enjoying living lives ensconced by the dark…  God stepped in with His plan of salvation and “commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Ephesians continues to tell us, that God “hath quickened us together with Christ.”  As our Savior was raised from the dead, God in His saving love raised those who believe to a restored life, a brand new life made possible through Jesus Christ.  God’s rich mercy became our lifesaver tossed out in the sea of sin where we were drowning, to bring us to the shores of His redeeming love.  No, we didn’t deserve it, nor could we earn it on our own merit.  God simply put this plan to save mankind from himself and the enemy of our soul into action because He loved us.  Love was His only motivation.  Love steered Him to take the course of action that put His only begotten Son on the cross in our place.  Love and only love was His reason for everything!

Thus, as believers, we readily recognize this is nothing short of a God-sized miracle worked out in our lives.  For it is “by grace ye are saved.”  It doesn’t matter who you are or what your situation, position, circumstance, or status is in life, the only way one can enter into a renewed relationship with God is through the grace and forgiveness offered through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  You cannot earn your way into it.  You cannot work your way into it. You can’t bargain your way there, either.  Only by going through the doors of the plan of His grace can you be saved.

What would happen if today God sat down and took account of all the wrongs we have done?  What would it be like if we stood before Him unable to pay what we owe?  Guess What?  We were there!  We could never pay for it. Jesus knew the predicament that humanity was in.  He knew that man could never get himself out of the debt of sin, so through Him, we obtained freedom from the old life we lived through grace, mercy, and compassion as people who do not deserve it but He loved into it.

We could not fathom how many times our accounts would have gone unpaid had it not been for the blood of Christ. But thank God, He acted in love to save us!  Not just us – but everyone who comes to Him in faith regardless of their background.  It is all a work of grace.  It is all done as the ultimate act of love, even when we didn’t perfectly deserve any of it.

When Jesus encountered the young rich ruler who thought he checked off the list of do’s and don’ts perfectly, the Bible said, “Jesus beholding him loved him…” and then disclosed what the young man needed to do before he walked away sad (Mark 10:21). 

God loves us and as any parent who wants the best for their child, He gave us His best even when…

But His best will only work if you and I will do what we need to do and accept it, accept Jesus.

Today can be your biggest turnaround. Today can be your day of freedom. Today, you can turn your even when into a now, and be saved.