What He Says He Will Do
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What He Says He Will Do
2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 145:10-18
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
Trust is sometimes something that is difficult to come by. For some it must be given and others it must be earned. However, in my opinion trust cannot be earned unless it is first given for at least a first time. For example, how can I trust my daughter to climb the monkey bars on her own without getting hurt unless I first allow her to try it by herself? How can Eimy trust me to take care of the kids by myself without the house being torn all apart and with out the girls having injuries and making sure that they get to bed on time without her unless she first gives me the chance to do so? If I prove to be successful then she will be less uneasy about the situation the next time. She must trust that if I say that I have it handled then I am going to have it handled. If Celeste tells me, she can cross the monkey bars without my help, then I need to trust her that this will be so and then encourage and uplift her on the way. While it may seem simple to put such trust and faith in other people it seems that for whatever reason we tend to not put this in practice when it comes to God. Often, we find it harder to trust Him and easier to trust in ourselves and others.
In our opening scripture a man comes from Baal Shalishah. This must have been a place close to Gilgal where Elisha was staying. The meaning on this word can loosely be translated to meaning that he came from the lord of Shalishah. This man brought food from his lord or king’s field. He brought that of some of the first fruits to Elisha and plus the heads of some new and fresh grain. It seems that he brings this as an offering to Elisha being a man of God. Rather than accepting them for himself he tells the man to use them to feed the people. The man questions Elisha as he only brought 20 loaves of bread which hardly seemed like they could feed over a hundred people. I love Elisha’s response though. It is like he is saying, “do you realize who you are talking to,” or “did I stutter.” He says again, to give it to the people and then couples the command with a prophesy. Elisha tells the man that the Lord says that they will all eat and have more left over. The man therefore feeds the people and it happens just the way the Lord said it would. The Lord will do what he says he will do.
John 6 gives us an account of the story that was skipped from the last week’s lectionary scriptures. They cross to the far side of the lake and a crowd of people had followed by foot because they were so intrigued by all of the healing miracles that Jesus had been performing. They are all out in the wilderness on a mountain sitting together. Jesus and his disciples just appear to be sitting with each other and hanging out. Jesus though has something spectacular in mind. He makes the suggestion that they should feed all of these people. Philip says that not even a half year’s wages would be enough to feed all of these people. Andrew speaks up that there is a boy that has 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish. This boy seemed to be the only one who was smart enough to pack a small lunch that morning. However, Jesus says that they are going to feed all the people. He takes these fish and barley loaves and gives thanks to his Father and the food is then multiplied. This is even greater than the 20 loaves feeding a 100 people. Now we have 5 loaves feeding thousands of people. Plus, on top of that, in the end there were 12 baskets left over. If the Lord says he is going to do something then he will do it.
Later Jesus has his disciples to back to Capernaum ahead of him while he stays behind on the mountain to pray. His plan is to meet them there. They must put themselves to trust him. Kind of hard not too after seeing 5000 people share one small lunch. We know the story that there is a great big storm and Jesus meets up with the disciples not walking on land but walking on the water. Once they realize that it is him, they welcome him on to the boat but they suddenly show up to their destination. At this point you got to trust Jesus that what he says he will do he will do it.
So often it is easy to question God. He actually welcomes us to do so but trusting in him is a test of our faith. God has made many promises to his people in his Word. Many of these promises have yet to come. We have waited 2000 years for at least one of these promises to be fulfilled. As the world moves farther away from the Lord, we who still believe nee to trust that what he says he is going to do he will do it. He will return again and bring justice to the earth and bring us into his kingdom. Jesus told his disciples before he ascended into heaven that anything they ask in his name he will do it for his name’s sake. We need to trust that when we pray, he will do just as he said he will do. The song says that he has never failed me yet for what he says he will do. Do you realize that he has never failed you yet? Only we can fail him by not trusting him to do what he says he will do.
Paul finishes chapter 3 of his letter to the Ephesians with a blessing and prayer for the people. He asks that they be strengthened and that Christ may dwell in their hearts through their faith, that they may trust in Him. That they may grasp really how far the Love of Christ reaches. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us…” Do you realize that he can do much more than we could ever imagine? He can do much more than we could ever understand him to do. We need to trust that his power is beyond our comprehension.
Why is it then that we struggle so much to believe this? Why is it that we tend to need signs and wonders, something tangible that we can see and touch in order to believe in what He says in His Word? Why can’t we just take him at his word. I believe that it is because we choose to lack faith and trust in Him. It is us that needs to make the first step by giving our trust in the Lord. It is not the Lord who needs to do things for us to then earn our trust first though sometimes for some he does do that. However, if we are willing to give him our trust first and believe in what he says he will do then I am certain that he will do it. Will you give him your trust today?