Go again seven times (1 Kings 18:43) - c.h. spurgeon

Success is certain when the Lord has promised it. 

Although you may have pleaded month after month without evidence of answer, 
     it is not possible that the Lord should be deaf 
          when his people are earnest in a matter which concerns his glory. 

The prophet on the top of Carmel continued to wrestle with God, 
and never for a moment 
gave way 
to a fear that he should be non-suited in Jehovah's courts. 

Six times the servant returned, but on each occasion no word was spoken but 
“Go again.” 

We must not dream of unbelief, but hold to our faith even to seventy times seven. 

Faith 
sends 
expectant hope 
to look from Carmel's brow, 
and if nothing is beheld, 
she sends 
again 
and again. 

So far from being crushed by repeated disappointment, 
     faith is animated to plead more fervently with her God. 

She is humbled, but not abashed: 
     her groans are deeper, 
          and her sighings more vehement, 
                but she never relaxes her hold or stays her hand. 

It would be more agreeable to flesh and blood to have a speedy answer, but believing souls have learned to be submissive, and to find it good to wait for as well as upon the Lord. 

Delayed answers often set the heart searching itself, 
     and so lead to contrition and spiritual reformation: 
deadly blows are thus struck at our corruption, 
     and the chambers of imagery are cleansed. 

The great danger is lest men should faint, and miss the blessing. 

Reader, do not fall into that sin, but continue in prayer and watching. 

At last the little cloud was seen, the sure forerunner of torrents of rain, 
     and even so with you, the token for good shall surely be given, 
          and you shall rise as a prevailing prince 
                to enjoy the mercy you have sought. 

Elijah was a man of like passions with us: 
his power with God did not lie in his own merits. 

If his believing prayer availed so much, why not yours? 

Plead the precious blood 
     with unceasing importunity, 
          and it shall be with you according to your desire.


"Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant.  And he went up and looked.  "There is nothing there," he said.  Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."  The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." ... Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling.
1 Kings 18:43-45

Trust in him at all times (Psalm 62:8) - c.h. spurgeon

Faith 
is as much the rule of temporal as of spiritual life; 
we ought to have faith in God 
for our earthly affairs as well as for our heavenly business. 

It is only as we learn to trust in God for the supply of all our daily need that we shall live above the world. 

We are not to be idle, 
     that would show we did not trust in God, who worketh hitherto, 
          but in the devil, who is the father of idleness. 

We are not to be imprudent or rash; 
     that were to trust chance, 
          and not the living God, who is a God of economy and order. 

Acting in all prudence and uprightness, 
     we are to rely simply and entirely upon the Lord at all times. 

Let me commend to you a life of trust in God in temporal things....

Serve God with integrity, and if you achieve no success, at least no sin will lie upon your conscience. 

[H]e that trusteth in the Lord is like a vessel propelled by steam, 
     she cuts through the waves, 
          defies the wind, 
               and makes one bright silvery 
                     straightforward track to her destined haven. 

Be you a man with living principles within; never bow to the varying customs of worldly wisdom. 

Walk in your path of integrity with steadfast steps, and show that you are invincibly strong in the strength which confidence in God alone can confer. 

Thus you will be delivered from anxious care, 
     you will not be troubled with evil tidings, 
          your heart will be fixed, trusting in the Lord. 

How pleasant to float along the stream of providence! 

There is no more blessed way of living than a life of dependence upon a covenant-keeping God. 

We have no care, 
     for he careth for us; 
we have no troubles, 
     because we cast our burdens upon the Lord.


Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:8 

Her last two coins

On my nightstand rest two tiny coppery disks.  The symbols engraved on them are foreign, ancient.  I don’t exactly know how I came by these metallic images of sacrifice.

(source)

Each one represents a coin placed in the temple treasury by the widow whose story is recorded in Luke 21:1-4.

I learned her narrative in my childhood Sunday School class.  There, her humble gift of two small coins was always contrasted with the showy contributions of the pompous rich.  I understood, as the record shows, that she gave everything she had to live on for the Lord’s work.

By my teachers, she was lauded as a woman of great generosity…and rightfully so.  The lesson was that we should be generous in giving to the Lord, and not just in times of comfortable wealth.

But I never really thought about WHY she gave her last two coins as an offering.

It certainly wasn’t for praise or honor—it seems that Jesus was the only one who noticed her and knew her situation.  He drew attention to her, not the other way around.  My guess is that it was incredibly humbling for her to place that little bit of change in the treasury in the midst of all of the other liberal wealth flowing that day.

It wasn’t to “keep up with the Joneses” either, for who would willingly give up her last pennies as an offering at an already gilded temple when there is daily bread to buy and monthly rent to pay?

I doubt it was for atonement or some sort of guilt offering.  If she needed to respond to God’s requirements of justice, surely she would have done all she could to save up enough to purchase the appropriate animal to sacrifice at that temple, as she had been raised to do.

If not for these reasons, then why would she give all she had to live on?

Two thoughts spring to mind.

1.  She was fully devoted to God.  She had something, tiny yet precious, to give Him as an offering, and she did not allow her poverty to stop her from giving from a willing, generous, loving heart.

2.  More importantly, I think it was that she knew something about the God she served with her last ounce of sustenance:  She knew her God would provide for her needs.  Perhaps she reasoned that He had brought her, a lowly and impoverished widow, this far, and He could certainly grant her all she needed in the days to come.  She was throwing herself on His gracious promise to care for the most vulnerable of Israel (Psalm 146:9; Proverbs 15:25).

Another idea dances around the edges of my thoughts:  What if God simply laid it on her heart to take her two very last coins to the temple on the very day Jesus and His disciples were standing there?  All so future generations could have an object lesson about what it truly means to give righteously?

Of course, that prompting would likely not go too far unless our dear widow’s heart was both devoted to her Lord and filled with faith in His promises.

Stories like these make me want to grab a dozen Bible commentaries, as I did when I had an entire Bible college library easily within reach, and read what others have to say about her story.  There is so much more to an account when the cultural and historical context is explained in greater detail.  If I tried to add that to this little post, I’d get so excited and share everything…and this would end up being 20 pages long!

Back to the replicas of the widow’s “mites.”  I keep them on my nightstand to remind me to be gracious in my offerings.  (While I have not yet attained this level of giving in my finances or any of my other resources, I want to press on toward that goal.)

We humans like visible reminders of spiritual concepts.

Touchstones.

Tangibles that give us something finite to hold on to when we’re struggling to grasp what it means to serve an infinite God.

I gaze at their holding place.

These little metal disks sit beside two equally small glass spheres.  Two marbles, each one a tiny icon of two of my ongoing prayer requests.  Once each prayer is answered with a clear “yes,” “no,” or “now is the right time,” the marble representing it will be taken back to my alma mater’s prayer room and deposited in the glass bowl filled with other multi-colored, round demonstrations of the answered prayers of fellow students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

As I reflect on these four objects lined up together for the time being, it occurs to me that my coins should also be speaking a message of whole-hearted devotion and unwavering trust in a God who hears and answers our prayers and cares for us in our most vulnerable state.

Arguments in Prayer

Those who know me well know of my two new…ish passions:  prayer and adoption/orphan care.  These passions, while still in their early stages, have been created in my heart by the faithful, kind work of my Heavenly Father.  In trials, He has given renewed direction to the callings He has placed on my life.

Speaking of prayer and orphan care, who better exemplifies these than George Muller?  To this day, he is recognized as a giant among faith-filled believers.   This 19^th century missionary and pastor spent his adult years SEEKING GOD ONLY for the means to support himself and his family, as well as those under his ministry. 

Perhaps he is most well known for his work with orphans and his dependence on the Lord’s provision for every need, including their daily bread.  And the most recognized story of his ministry?  One morning, as there was nothing to feed the many orphaned children in his care, he gathered them around anyway and asked the blessing on their breakfast, believing that it would be provided.  At that moment, an unsolicited knock came at the door…and there stood the baker with enough fresh bread to feed everyone in need!  Yes, that is faith, and that is the faith that Muller implemented daily.

As I mentioned, Muller’s sole means of providing for his charges was prayer.  He set forth 11 arguments in prayer for the orphan work, which he had undertaken:

The arguments which I plead with God are:

1. That I set about the work for the glory of God, i.e., that there might be a visible proof, by God supplying, in answer to prayer only, the necessities of the orphans, that He is the living God, and most willing, even in our day, to answer prayer:  and that, therefore, He would be pleased to send supplies.

2. That God is the "Father of the fatherless," and that He, therefore, as their Father, would be pleased to provide (Psalm 68:5).

3. That I have received the children in the name of Jesus, and that, therefore, He, in these children, has been received, and is fed, and is clothed; and that, therefore, He would be pleased to consider this (Mark 9:36, 37).

4. That the faith of many of the children of God has been strengthened by this work hitherto, and that, if God were to withhold the means for the future, those who are weak in faith would be staggered; whilst, by a continuance of means, their faith might still further be strengthened.

5. That many enemies would laugh, were the Lord to withhold supplies, and say, "Did we not foretell that this enthusiasm would come to nothing?"

6. That many of the children of God, who are uninstructed, or in a carnal state, would feel themselves justified to continue their alliance with the world in the work of God, and to go on as heretofore, in their unscriptural proceedings respecting similar institutions, so far as the obtaining of means is concerned, if He were not to help me.

7. That the Lord would remember that I am His child and that He would graciously pity me, and remember that I cannot provide for these children, and that therefore He would not allow this burden to lie upon me long without sending help.

8. That He would remember likewise my fellow labourers in the work, who trust in Him, but who would be tried were He to withhold supplies.

9. That He would remember that I should have to dismiss the children from under our Scriptural Institution to their former companions.

10. That He would show that those were mistaken who said that, at the first, supplies might be expected while the thing was new, but not afterwards.

11. That I should not know, were He to withhold means, what construction I should put upon all the many most remarkable answers to prayer which He has given me heretofore in connection with this work, and who most fully have shown to me that it is of God.

It’s easy to think that someone called to ministry should be expected to be of greater faith than the rest of us.  And while it is possible that Muller was given a greater portion of faith for his work (perhaps it was even his spiritual gift), the rest of us are required to exercise our own faith as well.  Could we take Muller’s arguments and apply them to our circumstances?  Here’s my attempt:

When our individual lives and ministries are turned toward the glory of God, our prayers will be offered in submission to His will.  He is still the living God who desires to answer prayer—thus, we must believe that He can and will provide for our needs.  Further, He is our Father, and He desires to provide good things for His children as we seek His Kingdom (Matthew 7:7-11).

The Lords knows we can’t provide for our needs very well.  He is kind and will give us what we need when we need it…and often in abundance.

We don’t live in a vacuum—our lives and God’s work in them are a witness to others.  God’s provision can be a means to strengthen the faith of others, and His continuing provision is a witness to those who believe God is too small or too busy to complete the work He began.

Young Christians, whose faith is still growing, may be trying to meet needs in the old way—by depending on themselves and only the supplies that are readily available (or perhaps obtainable through less-than-honest means).  They would be challenged to grow in their faith by the experience of seeing what God will do when He is invited to be the Source of provision.

Sustenance from God puts scoffers to shame.  Our faith and submission to the form of His provision is yet another testimony to unbelievers.

He knows that our lives intertwine with other lives.  One person’s hardship may lead to another’s as well.  God is gracious and kind, and He blesses us so we may in turn bless others.

If He has called us to a ministry and we don’t have the means to continue the ministry, then those to whom we minister may be abandoned.  He will provide for a ministry He wishes to continue.  If God can miraculously supply our needs early in our ministries in order to communicate the direction of His will, we can believe that He could continue to do so.  Why expect limitations on His gifts if the ministry is His idea?

Now, I am not saying that every provision must appear in a miraculous way or that God must always give exactly what we ask for when we request it.  He holds ordinary events in His hands, and He sees situations with a clarity we cannot fathom.  God is bigger than our myopic expectations.  His plan for our lives and ministries is woven together with the plans He has set in place for generations of His children.

Our role is simply to ask for His supply, according to His will, and then wait in faith with expectation that He will show Himself mighty.

His answer may be an unexpected stock of groceries at our front door when we have a household of hungry children and no money for life’s necessities.  Or His answer may come more practically, more “normally,” and it may take us a moment to realize God’s hand is in the mundane as well as the miraculous.