Joy is not a passing fling for the believer. His heart is ever rejoicing because the God of all heaven instills in him the ability to find a reason to praise regardless of the season one is encountering. Be it sunny skies or rainy days, the seed of praise still grows in the heart of His, and their joyfulness cannot be sequestered. Even if the skies or tides do not turn in our favor, God above all, is still worthy to be praised.
As noted in “Singing in the Rain,” dreary situations may come, and times of trouble and hardship can arise, but our hope for these less-than-fair days, and every day, is in our Heavenly Father. Therefore, whether sloshing through the rain of affliction or traipsing through the meadows of peace, we can say, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” Psalm 43:5.
Our hope is in God who never changes even if our situations do.
“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.” Romans 12:12
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).
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