Gtcotr/ss011517
Putting
God first place is nothing new for people in difficult moments of life. The
mercy of God comes to us in times of our greatest need.
When God wants to bless someone He often finds someone who needs a
blessing to bless them.
So,
times of need can be times of great blessing. But how can we be a blessing to
others when we can’t sufficiently meet our own needs? That’s where faith comes
into play. You see, faith moves mountains and faith moves the hand of God.
How
do we obtain the faith we need to trust God in difficult times. I believe it is
easier to trust God when we need more than when we don’t.
We have our greatest occasions to put God first when we are:
·
Poor
·
Alone
·
Troubled
·
Cannot meet our own needs
·
Responsible for others
·
Empty
·
Afraid
·
Facing death
·
Inspired by God to help others
These
truths are well observed in the life of a widow as recorded in:
1 Kings 17 NKJV
8 ¶ Then the word of the LORD
came to him, saying,
9 "Arise, go to
Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, 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, indeed a widow was there
gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little
water in a cup, that I may drink."
11 And as she was going to
get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in
your hand."
12 So she said, "As the
LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and
a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go
in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
13 And Elijah said to her,
"Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it
first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 "For thus says the
LORD God of Israel: ’The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar
of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’"
15 So she went away and did
according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many
days.
16 The bin of flour was not
used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD
which He spoke by Elijah.
Elijah
spoke the Word of the Lord to this poor widow and when she heard the Word it
awakened the command of God on inside of her – she found great faith. Romans
10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the Word.
Faith makes things possible it does not however make things easy
Something
powerful happens when the Word of God touches an open heart. Perhaps that’s why
we see so many miracles among the poor and needy people of the world. A broken heart is often an open heart. However I
don’t believe we have to wait until we are at the bottom of the barrel of life
to open our hearts to God.
Today
you can put your trust in God as an act of humility and begin submitting your
life to His Word. Today you can cast off your own self sufficiency and begin
depending on God to meet your needs. You can make a quality decision to begin
putting God first place in your life and polishing yourself to be more like
Christ.
Pray
with me now and let’s take a step in faith. God has a plan for your life and
for eternity. God needs you to make His plan most successful. Let’s give Him
what He needs the most … our faith and our trust in His Word.
