Thursday Evening Bible Study

February 7, 2013

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel split into two nations.

The northern kingdom would be known as “Israel”.

The southern kingdom was known as “Judah”.

We’ve followed the events in the northern kingdom as one dynasty was replaced by another, and we are now in dynasty of wicked Ahab and Jezebel, and though Ahab is dead, the northern kingdom is ruled by one of his sons, Jehoram.

The man that God has been using during this time of wickedness is the prophet Elisha.

6:1-7 Floating Ax Head

:1 And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us.

:2 Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.”

:1 the sons of the prophets

This is one of those “prophet schools”.  This particular group has outgrown their school campus.

The rabbis say that the increase in numbers of disciples was due to the departure of Gehazi.  They say that he used to abuse the disciples so much, that when he left, the school grew quickly in numbers.

:1 the place where we dwell

Play Jericho map clip

This is probably at the school of the prophets that we’ve seen was at Jericho, since they go down toward the Jordan to find some wood for building.

The Jordan valley can be a pretty dry, desolate place, except for the land near the river.

:3 Then one said, “Please consent to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.”

:4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

:5 But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”

:6 So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.

:7 Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

:6 he made the iron float

I have to admit I’m a little reluctant to keep giving spiritual meanings to what seems to be an historical event.  I’m not sure that every story is meant to have some secret symbolic meaning.

The problem with spiritualizing stories is that the “meaning” depends on how you assign meanings to the symbols.

Some (Jon Courson) suggest that this is a picture of “losing your edge in ministry” (the axe head), and that the answer is to throw your “flesh” (the wood) down to gain your edge again.

Others suggest it might be a picture that if you throw the cross (the wood) into the world (the water), that hard hearts (axe head) float to the surface.

:5 it was borrowed

Lesson

Pay your debts

God is concerned that we pay our debts, like returning things we’ve borrowed from others.

Many people would have said, “Borrowed ax, huh?  Bad news for the owner!”

But God is just as concerned as this man was about paying your debts.

(Ro 13:8 NKJV) Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

God made a way to get the axe head back, and the fellow was then responsible to return what he borrowed.

6:8-12 Military Intelligence

:8 Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

:9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.”

:10 Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

:11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

:12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

:12 one of his servants

I wonder if it might have been Naaman, who had been miraculously healed of leprosy on a visit to Elisha.

Or it could have been one of the others who would have gone along on Naaman’s trip to Elisha.

:12 words that you speak in your bedroom

Lesson

God’s knowledge

How could Elisha have this kind of knowledge without planting electronic bugs in the king’s bedroom?

That’s not a big deal with you realize that God is in the picture.

God sees, hears, and knows everything.

(Ps 139:2 NKJV) You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

We are really fooling ourselves when we think that nobody knows what we do in secret.

Ezekiel was in Babylon, and had a vision from God of what was happening in the Temple in Jerusalem:

(Eze 8:12 NKJV) Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”

I understand the importance legal issues involved with “privacy”.  But sometimes we would all do much better if we realized that there is truly nothing “private”, at least when it comes to God.

If you realized that God was looking over your shoulder every minute of the day, would it affect the way that you act?

6:13-23  Seeing and blind

:13 So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.”

:13 in Dothan

Dothan – Dothan – “two wells”; 12 miles north of Samaria, the home of Elisha.

I find it interesting that Elisha had asked Elijah for a “double portion” of the Spirit.  He then hangs out at “Shunem”, which means “double resting place” and at “Dothan” which means “two wells”.

Play Dothan map clip

Keep in mind that Elisha seemed to have an itinerant ministry – he travelled from place to place throughout the nation of Israel.

Dothan was the little city where Joseph was sold as a slave when his brothers kidnapped him (Gen. 37).

Dothan is about 10 miles north of the capital city of Samaria.

:14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

In my mind, I think of Elisha as having a place up on a hill where he can see all around the hill.

:15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

:15 the servant of the man of God

Gehazi had been Elisha’s servant, but he had been dismissed because of his trying to make money off of Naaman (5:27).  This is most likely a new “servant”.

:15 What shall we do?

I detect a bit of panic in the servant’s voice?

It’s not unusual for people who should know better to find themselves in a panic.

The disciples were in a boat with Jesus when a storm hit.  And they panicked.  (Mk. 4:35-41)

(Mk 4:35–41 NKJV) —35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

We always have Jesus is with us, we still get afraid.

Our faith is imperfect.

:16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

:16 those who are with us

Lesson

More with us

Elisha is aware of something that his servant is not.

They are not alone.

There’s an old 1980’s movie called “My Bodyguard” about a kid who is constantly being hassled by the school bully, a kid named “Moody”, until one day things change and he turns the tables on the bully.

Play “My Bodyguard” clip.

I like that last line, “Anything you want to say to me, talk to Him first”.

Jesus is our “bodyguard”

David wrote,

(Ps 34:7 NKJV) The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

Paul wrote,

(Ro 8:31 NKJV) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

John wrote,

(1 Jn 4:4 NKJV) You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

:17 chariots of fire

Play Dothan circle of fire clip

When the servant’s eyes are opened, he sees what Elisha sees, the mountain was full of chariots of fire.

It was a chariot of fire that had taken Elijah into heaven. (2Ki. 2:11)

(2 Ki 2:11 NKJV) Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

You may not see them, but the angels are there.

Jacob had a dream when he was on his journey –

(Ge 28:12 NKJV) Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

After he woke up

(Ge 28:16 NKJV) Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

The writer of Hebrews records,

(Heb 1:14 NKJV) Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

More recent example:

John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands.  One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them.  Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them.  When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave.  A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ.  Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them.  The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men with you there?”  Paton knew no men were present—but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.

:17 open his eyes

Lesson

Praying for eyes to open

Things are not always what they seem.

We see a bully standing in front of us.

God sees something different.

We see an impossible financial crisis.

God sees something different.

I think that prayer is one of the keys to us learning to see things the way that God sees them.

Listen to one of Paul’s prayers:

(Eph 1:15–19 NKJV) —15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lod Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

I think that would be a great thing to pray for ourselves.

It would be a great thing to pray for others as well.

I wonder if a key to this prayer being effective is the willingness of the person we are praying for.

(Mt 13:14–15 NKJV) —14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’

Are our eyes willing to be “opened”?

:18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened.  Now he prays for the Syrians to be blinded.

:19 Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria.

:19 This is not the way

I wonder if it looked something like this …

Play These Aren’t the Droids … clip

Now don’t get me wrong, Elisha is not a Jedi master.  He’s a simple man.  And he’s a man who is led by an Almighty God.  There’s no waving of the hands, just a work of God.

Modern example:

Andrew van der Bijl, known as Brother Andrew, had a ministry at the height of the cold war smuggling Bibles into communist countries.  That was not a legal thing to do.  He often reported that the customs inspectors miraculously kept missing the Bibles, or looking at them and ignoring them.

:20 So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

:20 open the eyes

Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened (6:17), now for these Syrians.

Do you think they were surprised when they found out where they were?

:21 Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

:21 the king of Israel saw them

King Jehoram is blown away with having his enemies delivered to his doorstep.

He is in awe of what Elisha has done.  He wants to know what he should do next.

:22 But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.”

:23 Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel.

:23 he prepared a great feast

In the ancient Near East eating together under one’s roof constituted making a covenant of peace

Lesson

Kindness to enemies

Solomon wrote,

(Pr 25:21–22 NKJV) —21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you.

Jesus said,

(Mt 5:44–45 NKJV) —44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

:23 came no more

I wonder how they explained this to their boss.  “Well we were about to bring back Elisha, but …”

It seems that their “kindness” had an effect, at least for the time being …

6:24 – 7:2  The Siege of Samaria

:24 And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

:24 besieged Samaria

Play Samaria siege map clip

Samaria sits up on a hill.  If you surround the hill with your army, you cut off all shipments into the city.

:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.

:25 donkey’s head

Let’s go grocery shopping … just to see how bad the famine is.

A donkey was an “unclean” animal, one not meant to eat (Lev.11:3).

The head of a donkey isn’t going to have a lot of meat on it either.

80 pieces of silver (80 shekels) would be roughly worth (80 x $128) $10,240.

:25 dove droppings

What does a “pint” of dove poop cost?  About $640.  How hungry are you?

:26 Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

:27 And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?”

:28 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

:29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

:30 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.

:29 we boiled my son

The woman is upset because the other gal didn’t let them eat her son.

This was prophesied as one of the signs of God’s judgment on the nation when they would not follow after the Lord (Deut. 28:52-58)

It would happen again when Nebuchadnezzar would come against Jerusalem in 586 BC (Lam. 4:10)

The king is horrified at what the people are doing to survive – resorting to cannibalism.

:31 Then he said, “God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!”

In fairness to the king – I think it’s likely that Elisha had probably been telling the king to just be patient and wait.

:32 But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

:32 the elders were sitting with him

It’s interesting that the leaders of the nation are sitting with Elisha.

:32 son of a murderer

The king is Joram, who is one of the sons of Ahab and Jezebel.

Jezebel had a man named Naboth killed in order to give Naboth’s vineyard to Ahab.

:32 hold him fast

Elisha instructs the elders to keep the messenger at the door until the king arrives, so Elisha can talk to the king.

:33 And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

:33 why should I wait

Lesson

Patience

It’s a hard thing to just “wait” when you feel like you ought to be doing something.

For us, sometimes we aren’t sure if we are supposed to wait.

Sometimes God wants us to get up and do something.

For Joram, it’s pretty simple.  Elisha has told him what God wants him to do – to wait.

(Jas 1:2–4 NKJV) —2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Sometimes the trials we go through are meant to help us cultivate “patience”.

And if we continue to correctly cultivate “patience”, then the result is that we grow up, we mature, we become “perfect and complete”.

7:1 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

7:1 a seah of fine flour … a shekel

Prices are going to drop dramatically.

The pint of dove poop had been going for 5 shekels.

When this thing is over, you will be able to get 6 ½ quarts of wheat flour for 1 shekel.

Barley will be even cheaper, but barley was considered cheaper than wheat.

:2 So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

:2 windows in heaven

The concept is that of the treasures of heaven being poured out on the earth by opening a window.

Lesson

Unimaginable

Sometimes we just can’t imagine what’s possible.

Illustration

We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.

- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives.

- Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project.

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

For some of you, the concept that God could love you seems too good to be true.

Sometimes we can think something is impossible, but we’re simply wrong.

God wants to do more in your life than you could even imagine.

(Eph 3:20 NKJV) Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

God is a lot bigger than you think He is. Could He open the windows of heaven?

Note:  Was the army of God surrounding Samaria like it did at Dothan?

We don’t know.  Maybe, maybe not.

Either way, Elisha didn’t seem concerned about the siege.

7:3-20 Syrians Flee

:3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die?

:3 four leprous men

These guys are outcasts. They have a disease that kept them at the lowest part of their society. These are the most unlikely men to rescue an entire city, but that’s what they’ll do.

:4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.”

:3 Why are we sitting here

Lesson

Just sitting around

Yet that’s what we sometimes do when our circumstances seem overwhelming

We get paralyzed with fear and end up doing nothing.

Get up and go. Go do something.

What’s the worst that can happen?  Die?  For the lepers, they reasoned that this was going to happen no matter what.

Play “Rocket” clip

Theodore Roosevelt said,

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”

:5 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.

They leave at sunset, when they get to the camp of the Syrians, it’s dark.

:6 For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”

:7 Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives.

:8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

:9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

:9 We are not doing right

The lepers start to realize that they’re sitting on all this food and loot, while the people are starving back in the city. They’ve got the most incredible news that can save an entire city. They can either sit on it or share it.

Lesson

Share the news.

We too have “good tidings” that need to be shared.

Jesus has changed our lives. He’s reached out to outcasts and broken people, and made them new again. We’ve been given the miracle prescription for the human race. We can either sit on it or share it.

Paul wrote,

(1 Co 9:16 NKJV) For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

Illustration

Blunt common sense always characterized Mr. Moody. Once a man rose in one of his meetings to give his experience. “I have been for five years on the Mount of Transfiguration,” he said. Instantly Mr. Moody interrupted him by the sharp question, “How many souls did you lead to Christ last year?’ “Well, I don’t know,” answered the surprised man. “Have you led any?” then came sternly from the preacher. “I-ah-don’t know that I have,” said the man. “Then,” snapped Mr. Moody, still more sternly, “we don’t want that kind of mountaintop experience. When a man gets so high that he can’t reach down and save poor sinners, there is something wrong.”

:10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.”

:11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.

:12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.’ ”

The king is suspicious.  It sounds too good to be true.  It might be a trap.

:13 And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.”

:14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”

:15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king.

:15 went after them to the Jordan

Play Samaria to Jordan map clip

These two chariots drive all the way from Samaria to the Jordan, about twenty five miles to the east.

:16 Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

:17 Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

:18 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.”

:19 Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, “Now look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

:20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

:20 the people trampled him in the gate

He was trampled by the stampede of hungry people running towards the camp of the Syrians. He saw the deliverance but he wasn’t able to enjoy it.

Lesson

The price of unbelief

This man did not benefit from the work of God because he didn’t believe it was possible.

Our salvation works that way.  We only enjoy it if we believe.

The Bible tells us that our own sins have separated us from God. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ died on a cross in order to take our sins out of the way. The Bible says that we can be made right with God if we will choose to receive God’s forgiveness and believe in His Son Jesus.  Yet if we DON’T believe …

(Jn 3:18 NKJV) “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

It works this way in all of our life.  God wants to do great things in your life, but you need to trust Him.

(Heb 11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Do you have a famine you’re struggling with in your life? Is there a situation you think is impossible to overcome? Is there a person that is impossible to put up with?

We need to work at “trusting” Him.

Jesus met a man who had a serious problem with his child.  The man had brought the child to Jesus and the disciples.

(Mk 9:23–24 NKJV) —23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Ask Him to help you with your faith.