The Limits of Unbelief

 Don’t you think it’s interesting that there were no disciples at the tomb when Jesus rose from the dead?  We read that Jesus told them He would rise, but we don’t read anywhere that they believed Him. 

The thing I find most interesting is that His enemies did believe it, that’s why they placed a crack squadron of soldiers to guard the tomb.  That’s why they sealed it.  That’s why they said, “We remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.”

Even when the women who visited the tomb told the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, they didn’t believe them.

Sometimes Christians struggle with believing God.  There’s really no difference between believing Jesus when He said He would rise from the dead, and believing Jesus when He says He will pour out blessing.  Today I want to address something that I think needs to be addressed.  There are things that God has spoken that seem to be easier to believe than others.  So, in this post, I want to look at unbelief, from this portion of scripture:

2 Kings 7:1-2 (NKJV)
^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.' " 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."

Can You Believe the Promises?

This takes place at a very bleak time in Israel’s history.  There has been a famine in the country, so there isn’t much food available.  Things were very tough.  Now on top of that Ben Hada, King of Syria, has placed them under siege.  They’re being held captive inside the walls of the city. 

In fact, people have even turned to cannibalism:

2 Kings 6:26-29 (NKJV)
^6:26 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."

This shows how desperate the people were.  All of us go through times of famine like this.  Maybe you’ve never been desperate enough to eat your children, but you have been through times when you didn’t think you had enough.

You’ve got the rent, food, utilities, taxes, gas, insurance, it seems like what goes out is bigger than what comes in.  Then there’s layoffs, semester breaks, down business times.  It seems like a time of famine in your life.

Maybe in times like that you’re less open to the promises of God.  Maybe you’re like the man on whose arm the king leans. He said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

He’s wondering in light of these desperate circumstances how God can make this happen.  I’ve wondered the same thing myself – a number of times.  How can you open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, but that’s one of the promises isn’t it?

In our text Elisha the prophet is repeating what God has promised.

2 Kings 7:1 (NKJV)
^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.'

That by the next day, about the same time a seah (about 7 liters in volume) of flour for a shekel (about $4.50 USD, 2025 dollars).  That’s a low price for flour, but things are so bad that people can’t believe it. 

When we don’t see a way out of our circumstances, we can’t see how God can deliver us.  We judge God’s abilities by our own, but God can do supernatural things. 

That word super as a prefix means beyond.  So, God can do things beyond the natural, which is what we can do.  We live and operate in the natural, but God operates in the supernatural.  God can do miracles.

Look at the circumstances of your life.  Are you struggling in one area?  Is there a part of your life that you think can’t be changed?  Maybe a doctor told you there’s no treatment for what you’re suffering.  Maybe, you can’t see an improvement in your finances.  Maybe you think there’s no way you can change.  You are limited in your ability to affect change in your life, by your own abilities and natural laws, but God isn’t affected that way.  God can transcend circumstances and nature.  The limit to what God can do for you is the limit to which you believe God. 

The man in our text limits God to the natural circumstances.  He’s saying that even if God were to open the windows of heaven, our circumstances are so bad that they can’t be fixed.  This is unbelief – It’s a lack of faith. 

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
^11:6 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.

Our unbelief limits God.  Look how that is worded.  He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards them that diligently seek Him.  There is faith in God, that is, that most of us believe in God; We believe that God exists, but is there faith in God’s abilities?  Is there faith that God can do things and will do things to eliminate your suffering?

You believe in God – Do you believe He can heal you?

You believe in God – Do you believe He can provide for you?

You believe in God – Do you believe He can change you?

Those are the promises. 

The disciples believed in Jesus.  They believed He was the Messiah.  They believed He could do miracles.  They believed that He was there to deliver mankind, but they couldn’t believe that He would rise from the dead, even though He promised that He would.

We’re like that, too.  We believe in God, we believe we’ve been forgiven.  So, why can’t we believe God to keep His promises? Let’s examine that.

God Keeps His Promises

Let’s examine a promise that God has made.

Malachi 3:10-11 (NKJV)
^3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. ¹¹ "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts.

This is a promise of God.  If we will do something, then God will do something.  We know it’s a promise because God s saying, “Test me.  See if I will do what I have said here.  I promise that I will do this; you can check me on it.  Bring all of your tithes and offerings into the storehouse.  Do this and I will open the windows of heaven and bless you so much you won’t have room for it all."  I wonder, though, how many are really believing God for this promise.  How many are like the man on whose arm the king leaned, "I'm struggling, there’s a lot of expenses.”  “I can’t make enough money to keep up.”  “If I give more there won’t be enough.”  That’s thinking in the natural and forgetting about the supernatural.  “Look if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”  Look at what God did in the day of need for Israel:

2 Kings 7:5-7 (NKJV)
.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. 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

God made a promise that would happen the next day, but because people couldn’t see how it could happen, they didn’t believe that it would happen.  That’s how a lot people are.  “If I give more there will be less, so how can there be more if I give more?”  That’s what the promise is, though.  We can’t see how it could happen, but God promises that it can. 

Then we look at this story and we see how God did it in this instance.  He caused the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots when there were no chariots.  He caused them to panic when there was no reason to panic.  He caused them to abandon everything, even though there was no attack.  God moved outside what we think is possible, in order to keep His word, and He will do the same thing with our giving.  God moved in a supernatural way and suddenly there was abundance in the midst of famine.  You may think that if you give more there will be less, but God has promised that if you give more, there will be more.

This whole event takes place in the midst of a famine.  Did you know that there is an underlying purpose for famine?

Amos 4:7-8 (NKJV)

⁷ "I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. ⁸ So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the Lord.

The last line in this scripture gives us a clue as to that purpose.  “Yet you have not returned to me.”  God uses famine to cause His people to return to Him.  He wants people to depend on Him.  He wants people to trust Him.  If God uses famine to cause His people to come back to Him on a national level, do you think He might do the same thing on a personal level.  Maybe you’re in the midst of a financial famine because you’re not trusting and depending on God.  You don’t believe God can move supernaturally on your behalf.  When God is saying, “Try me now in this,” in Malachi chapter three, He’s really saying, “Let me show you what I can do.”  God can’t show you His response to your giving if you’re not giving.

The Reward of Faith

If we look back at our text, we can see the prophet’s response to the man on whose arm the king leaned.

2 Kings 7:2 (NKJV)
^7:2 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."

He’s telling him that because of his unbelief, he will see God move but he won’t share in God’s deliverance.  Because you don’t believe there’s no deliverance for you.  It’s the same in the promise of tithes in the storehouse, if you don’t believe you won’t receive deliverance.  If you don’t test God’s promise, you won’t receive God’s deliverance.

Do you ever look at other people and wonder why they’re blessed aand you’re struggling?  Maybe it’s the same answer this man received.  You’ll see the blessing but won’t share in it because of unbelief.  You see those who believed receiving the blessing, but you don’t share in it because of your own unbelief.  Look at what happened to the man:

2 Kings 7:17 (NKJV)
^7:17 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.

This is a direct result of the man’s not believing God’s promise.  He saw the abundance that came about supernaturally.  He saw the promise fulfilled, but he didn’t receive it.  In fact, something much worse happened.  The man was killed.

This is a spiritual principle.  Unbelief will always lead to spiritual death.  Belief and faith brings eternal life, unbelief brings eternal condemnation.  The man who didn’t believe ended up dead, not just that he didn’t get blessed, he died.

Every church has seen this before.  There are people who aren’t there, anymore.  They have died a spiritual death…because of unbelief.

If you’re struggling with this, right now, don’t despair.  The promise is there for you if you’ll just begin to believe God.  Remember Hebrews 11:6:

Hebrews 11:6b (NKJV)
^11:6b for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The first thing is to believe that God is; that God exists; that God is a patient and loving God. Secondly, believe that if you diligently seek Him, you will be rewarded.  If you hunt for God, God will let you find Him. God is the God who blesses.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NKJV)
^9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Do you want to see God’s promises play out in your life?  Do you want to reap bountifully?  This scripture is rooted in faith.  A cheerful giver believes that God will bless.  One who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.  Purpose in your heart to be a cheerful giver and God will bless you.  If you act in unbelief while others act in faith you will see the reward of that faith in them being blessed but you will not partake in blessing.  Unbelief will keep you from the blessings of God.  So, bless God and He will bless you.

 

Note:  I am not a preacher of prosperity doctrine.  I don’t believe that God exists to make you rich, but I do believe in the principles highlighted in Malachi chapter three.

 

The Superlatives of God

As a writer I’ve been taught to be careful of the use of superlatives.  Superlatives are words like “fantastic”, “magnificent”, and “splendid”.  Generally, when a writer uses words like that, they’re probably exaggerating.  Let me show you an example:

Fuddrucker’s Restaurant advertises that they serve “The World’s Greatest Hamburgers.”  You’ve tried every hamburger in the world and you know that?

We use words like that all the time to describe what are really ordinary things.  Fuddrucker’s hamburgers are pretty good, but the best in the world?  I seriously doubt it.  When the writers of the Bible described the blessings of God on His children, they wanted to speak in the strongest of terms, so the Bible is full of superlatives.

Today I want to post on Thanksgiving.  I think that as Christians we have a lot to be thankful for, like the blessings of God. 

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (NKJV)
^9:10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

The Superlatives of God

A superlative is a comparison word.  For example, This is the Best tea of these two.  Best is the superlative.  It’s interesting to read your Bible and see the way the writers thought about God.  It’s difficult for them to speak of God’s attributes without using words like “greatest”, “best”, or “most”.  Face it God’s abilities are far beyond ours.  He’s much more capable than any of us.

Psalms 147:5-8 (NKJV)
^147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. ⁶ The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. ⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God, ⁸ Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

What I really want to post on today is Thanksgiving.  As Christian we have a lot to be thankful for.  For one thing we’re not on the way to Hell, anymore.  I don’t know about you but I’m glad about that. 

One other thing we might have to be thankful for is the mercy and character of God.  The writers of the Bible articulated their thoughts on the awesomeness of God by talking about His attributes in the most expressive terms available:

Isaiah 55:7 (NKJV)
^55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

Here Isaiah is speaking of God’s mercy, “He will abundantly pardon.”  God’s not stingy with his mercy.  He pardons abundantly; over and over.  He doesn’t withhold mercy.  How wonderful for you and I.  I can’t tell you hoe many times people have told me that God couldn’t forgive them, “You don’t know what I’ve done.”  You’re right, I don’t, but the Bible says, “God is faithful to forgive.” (1 John 5:9)  That means He always forgives, if you repent.  That’s what the mercy of God is like; it’s abundant, and do you know why?

Ephesians 3:19 (NKJV)
^3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

It’s because the love of God “passes knowledge”.  That means it’s beyond what you could know.  Think about how much Jesus loves you.  He loves you so much that He died a brutal death for you.  He loves you so much that He left heaven just so He could come to earth and suffer for you.  Those are things that you know about his love.  Guess what, He loves you more than that; more than you could possibly know.

He did all of that so that you could be filled with the fullness of God:  So that God could dwell in you.  That’s what we have that no other religion has – God dwelling in us:  God becoming a part of us.  What a gift God has given us in the gift of His Son.

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NKJV)
^9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

There are no words that can describe that gift.  Words are inadequate.  This verse is talking about the blessings of God that come to you, through other people praying for you; contending for you, because of your generosity:  What you have given them.  This isn’t necessarily about material things (although it could be) it’s about giving of yourself:  Giving of your time, your resources, your encouragement and your prayers.  People will want to pray for you as you live your life in imitation of God’s abundance of love, mercy and faithfulness.  The value of prayers and blessing is indescribable.

Finally, there’s this:

Psalms 147:5 (NKJV)
^147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

His understanding is infinite; without end.  God know everything; He understands all.  He understands what you need, what you go through.  He understands every temptation and weakness.

 Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV)
^4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He understands and He’s willing to help.  He encourages us to come to Him for help.  What a gracious God we serve

What are you thankful for?

People sometimes struggle with gratitude.  There are people who focus their lives on what’s missing.  How unhappy they are!  They never take time to be thankful for the things of God.  It’s always, “I don’t have the nicest car.”  Or, “I don’t have the nicest house.”:  “The most sensitive husband, the most beautiful wife.”  Those people only go to church for what God can do to make their lives seem better.  They’re consumed with the carnal things and forget about the blessings of God.  Look at what the psalmist says:

Psalms 105:1-3 (NKJV)
^105:1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! ² Sing to Him, sing Psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! ³ Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!

Are you thankful for a God that does wondrous works?  Are you thankful for a God who gives mercy abundantly?  Are you thankful for a God that lifts up the humble and casts the wicked down to the ground:  The God who makes rain so that grasses can grow.  (Rice is a grass – His rain produces food.)  Are you thankful for a God like that or are you more concerned with worldly things?

I’ve seen Christians who are depressed because they don’t have it all.  They forget about a God who forgives sin and who prepares a place for them.

Revelation 21:4-5 (NKJV)
^21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." ⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."

You may not have it all on this earth, but there is a place where there will be no more sorrow or pain.  A place where there’s a crown of righteousness laid up for you.

2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJV)
^4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Have you forgotten about God’s goodness and love?  Are you so focused on the world’s definition of greatness that you can’t be thankful for the spiritual things you have; for the future you have in Jesus:  The eternal things of Christ?

Be Thankful

Psalms 100:4-5 (NKJV)
^100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. ⁵ For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

This is the attitude we should have.  This is talking about the temple, Enter into the place of God’s inhabitance with thanksgiving and praise.  How many come to church grateful for the God that we serve?  How many come to church looking for more from God?  Are you entering into the house of God gratefully?

Every November Americans celebrate Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving was instituted in the beginning by George Washington:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and to humbly implore his protection and favor…The people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God…

This is what thanksgiving is about.  We shouldn't be grateful one day a year, after all, God works wondrous works in us every day of our lives.  This is not American culture – It’s Christian culture.  Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday to thank God for fruitful fields, healthful skies, abundance of precious metals, and a harmonious and increasing population.  He called them the gracious gifts of God.  We should thank God for all of His gracious blessings but also just for being whom He is. 

All of these writers used superlatives to describe God.  They had to, because God is beyond comparison with people.  You can’t describe God in normal ways because God is above all of that.  I don’t know about you but I’m grateful to serve a God who’s not like people but infinitely greater.