Brown's Daily Word 4-22-08

Good morning,
One powerful portion of Scripture is found in Proverbs 3. We are called to trust the Lord with all of our hearts. Elijah is one man who trusted the Lord. We read in 1 Kings 17, "Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.' So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, 'Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?' As she was going to get it, he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread.' 'As surely as the Lord your God lives,' she replied, 'I don’t have any bread — only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it — and die.' Elijah said to her, 'Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.'' She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah." Elijah had been living down by the brook Kerith, and the ravens had been feeding him there, but the brook had dried up because of the drought. In order to survive he had to seek another resource. As he entered the city gate, he saw the widow gathering a few sticks. He called to her and asked for some water — the very thing that was in short supply throughout the land. Though there was a drought, without a word she proceeded to get him a drink. She obviously was a person of compassion rather than judgment. She recognized him as a man of God, but as she is on her way to get his water, he called to her to ask for bread also. She explained her situation, telling Elijah that, because she only had a little bit of flour, she was going to build a small fire to bake the last bit of bread for her and her son, and then prepare to die of starvation. Elijah then told her a marvelous thing, that the Lord promised that she would not run out of bread or oil until the drought was over, if she will only do what he has asked. Amazingly, she took him at his word, and found that her little, when blessed by God, would go a long way. This story reminds us of Jesus multiplying the loaves; it is a story that aligns him with Elijah the prophet. Why did God choose a poverty-stricken widow? It was because the rich can get along on their own, but she needed what only God can give. God chose a desperately poor widow because the rich, trusting in their riches, might not have shared with Elijah, as a poor person did. God chose a poor Gentile widow who was near death because the politics and conflict of governments meant nothing to her at this point. She was at a place where she has nothing to lose and not much to give, but she chose to give. The poor are often that way. Tony Campolo tells a story about meeting a man on an inner city street. The man was extremely dirty, and possibly psychotic. He was one of those people you are just not sure about. Maybe you would think him dangerous. He offered Tony a drink of his coffee from a grimy cup held in his filthy hand. Campolo suspected that he would be asked for money for the coffee, and he certainly had no desire to taste the coffee, but he decided to accept the man’s offer as an act of grace. Tony thanked the man for the coffee and offered him something, but he refused and said, “Naw, I don’t want nothin’. It is a cold night and the coffee is just so good; I just wanted to share it with somebody. If you want to give me something, give me a hug.” So Tony and a dirty homeless man stood hugging each other on a cold, dark winter night. It is in that kind of experience where we often encounter God. Those with the least to offer are often the most willing to give and, ironically, actually have the most to offer.
Only those who trust can dare to give. Trusting God results in gratitude. I think of the poor, nameless widow whom Jesus saw putting a couple of pennies in the temple offering. Was she putting it in because she was hoping to win the lottery, (As in, “If I give this to God, maybe he will send me a lot of money.”). I don’t think so. Jesus would not have lifted her up as an example if that was the case. Since Jesus knew it was her last two cents, he surely knew her motive as well. More likely, she trusted God and gave out of the gratitude she felt in her heart. She was not only grateful for what had been, but for what would be. Like her, when we respond to God with complete trust, then we get his attention. Whenever we deal with God, there must always be a transaction of trust. Trusting God means I have freedom from fear and the ability to live life with gratitude. It means that I have a confidence about life which other people do not seem to have It means that every day is a day of praise and thanksgiving. It means living with doxology. You simply cannot be thankful unless you can trust. For this reason, I am concerned for a culture that thrives on the grotesque. My heart aches for those who live in skepticism, suspicion, and cynicism. The rolled eyes and upturned lip of this culture, along with its exasperated sigh, make us strangers to joy. We are the opposite of the woman in the temple. We have more than enough of everything and give nothing. Though we have more than enough, we want to keep it all. Where there is no faith, there is no joy. Where there is no trust, there is no thankfulness. Where there is no thankfulness, there is no giving. Stingy spirits lack trust, resulting in grudging and ungrateful lifestyles. I think of the story of another woman — not a very nice woman. She had a very bad reputation, and she earned it. Yet, Jesus showed her respect, and offered her forgiveness and new life. With tears and sobbing that seemed to release all of her guilt and shame, she poured out her gratitude to Christ, washing his feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair. The most that the religious elite could do was to sneer at what they considered a repulsive emotional display that bordered on being sensual. Jesus said to them, “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). Those who trust God receive a new confidence. They live life with thankfulness and joy — they have good reason. Trusting God results in the blessing of God. For the widow of Zeraphath, trusting God meant receiving the blessing and provision of God. Without trust there would have been no blessing. Without the blessing she would not have survived. She gave the last of her flour and oil, and found that she couldn’t give it all, because she couldn’t use it up. The flour jar could not be used up, and the oil would not stop flowing. There was not only enough for her and her son, but enough for others as well. People who are trusting discover that God's supply never runs out. There is not only enough for them; there is enough for others as well. I love the story of Jesus multiplying the fish and loaves for the five thousand. Not only could the people not empty the baskets of bread and fish, but there was bread and fish to spare. Everyone had their fill, and there were twelve baskets of bread and fish left over. It is no mistake that the number of baskets was twelve — one for each of the tribes of Israel. It reminded them of Moses feeding the children of Israel in the desert. Each morning they went out to gather the manna that God sent them. It was there, as the Israelites were given the manna, the bread of heaven, that the Bible says, “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little” (Exodus 16:18). We are a blessed people because we have a God who loves to bless, but the only way to experience the blessing of his provision is to live in trust. It is interesting that in the story of the widow in the temple, we don't know what happened with her. Jesus said that she gave, “out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.” Since that was true, how did she then live? Where did she get her next meal? Jesus did not tell her to go home and find unending flour and oil in her cupboard. What did she do? We don’t know, but we are led to believe she continued to trust. I believe that those who give their last and little, receive the unending and abundant resources of God.
In Him,
BrownTrust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love and the future to God's providence. AugustineGod has wisely kept us in the dark concerning future events and reserved for himself the knowledge of them, that he may train us up in a dependence upon himself and a continued readiness for every event. Matthew HenrySuggestions for Fasting and Feasting: Fast from discontent; feast on thankfulness. Fast from worry; feast on trust. Fast from anger; feast on patience. Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others. Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayers . Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness. Fast from discouragement, feast on hope. Fast from media hype, feast on the honesty of the Bible. Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence. Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds. Anonymous
We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day by day trusting Him. It is trusting Him so much that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our life. It is not worrying, but rather trusting and abiding in the peace of God that will crush anything that Satan tries to do to us. If the Lord created the world out of chaos, He can easily deal with any problem that we have. Rick Joyner