2 Kings 7:2 (NIV) The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”

Back in the days of Elisha the prophet, there was a severe famine in the land due to the fact that the Arameans had laid siege to Samaria. It got so bad that the Bible says that 1/4 of a pound of dove’s dung sold for about seventy-five dollars (2 Kings 6:25). I don’t know who would buy such a thing, but nonetheless, that was the price of it during those times, which leads you to wondering what food costs were. The king was bitterly angry and blamed God and Elisha for it. He threated to cut off Elisha’s head. When he encountered Elisha, Elisha told him what the Lord had said. God was about to show mercy and deal with the Arameans. Elisha then prophesied that food costs would drop like a rock the very next day. The officer that was accompanying the king then dared to doubt God and asked. "How could this happen? Even if the Lord opened the floodgates of heaven..." He was not only doubting Elisha but was doubting God. Elisha once again prophesied that it would happen but that he would not live to see it. Sure enough, it happened just as Elisha had said and the man who doubted was killed as a mob of people ran through the gates of the city to pick up plunder and food that the Arameans had left behind as they fled from the panic that the Lord had sent among them.

We may chide the man who doubted God, but I wonder how many times in our lives we have doubted God. Most believers believe that God can do impossible things in theory but have a very hard time believing that He will actually do it in their lives. They believe God in general, but not for specific things. I have found that God is faithful to work on our behalf even in little things when we ask by faith. The unfortunate man in the story who died due to his arrogance in stating that the Lord could not do what He said was a person who probably didn’t believe in God at all. Yet he was still judged for speaking against what God had decreed.

I know that we are living in the age of grace and that the Lord has demonstrated an unbelievable amount of patience, mercy and grace with us, but how much are we missing out on because in many instances where the Lord would have done the impossible on our behalf we have said, "How could this be?" In other words, it’s like we are saying, "No, this is not possible. God cannot do that." While we don’t use those very words, we may as well use them since that is what is implied when we don't believe that God can do what He promised to do. Let’s get ready to experience the miracle-working power of the awesome God that we serve by simply believing that He will work on our behalf and that He will do it in the supernatural way that He does. Jesus said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Let’s pray for more faith to say yes to what God wants to miraculously do so that we can experience the power of God at work and so that glory will go to His name!

Pastor Joey Vazquez