THE HOW BELONGS TO GOD. ALWAYS!

The problem with faith boils down to one thing – considering your present condition, how is the promise possibly going to materialize? If you knew the HOW, or you could at least foresee the possible ways it could play out, it would make it so much easier to receive, no? 🤔

This piece came to me in prayer today. And I realized that more often than not, even the Bible rarely told how things happened behind the scenes of major events that occurred. A few examples:

Jesus is at a wedding feast. [John 2] Either the couple wasn’t expecting as many people to show up, or those who showed up just really liked wine and kept downing it till it run out in the middle of the ceremony. Now Jesus isn’t ready to start unveiling the miraculous just yet, but his mother runs to Him in confidence that only her divine son could salvage the situation. So even though Jesus tells her His time is not up yet, she boldly says to the servants – ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ So Jesus sees 6 stone water pots that had been used for Jewish ceremonial washing, and says to fill them with water. Verse 8 says when the jars had been filled, He said to them, “Now dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies.” They did, and you know the rest of the story…the water had turned into wine! Question is:

At what point did the water turn into wine? Was it while it was in the pot? Or while they fetched from the water pots? Or when it touched the lips of those who drank? 🤷🏽‍

Let me leave that for a minute. Again Jesus gets onto a boat to be alone after news of John the Baptist’s death gets to Him [Matthew 14]. The people around at the time were missing the word ‘privacy’ in their dictionary, ‘cos they followed him on foot – 5000+ men not counting women and children! [If you know women, you know there must have been about twice as many women as men!🌚🤭] Not the point of attention but the Bible says Jesus had compassion on them when He saw them [even though He was in pain Himself] and healed their sick. [What an awesome God!🥰] Anyway, they remained with him till evening, the Bible says. The disciples came and said, “Fam, we know you love these people, but this is a very remote place, and it’s getting late. Send them away to go get food for themselves.” Then Jesus, absurd as He could be sometimes, tells them, “That’s not necessary – feed them.” I’d have been slightly irritated at this man if I were a disciple. Like, what do you mean? You know this wasn’t a picnic! 🙄 All these people weren’t even supposed to be here in the first place fam!🙄 But then they find 5 loaves and 2 fish, and Jesus does His weirdo stuff again – lifts them up to heaven and blesses them. Then He breaks them into pieces and hands them over to the disciples to share. Judas is probably thinking at this point, “Dude, like really?🙄’  They get on with the serving, possibly expecting the bread to run out in a bit, but they feed everybody, and still have 12 baskets of untouched bread and fish… Question is:

At what point did the bread and fish multiply? Was the piece replaced as it was picked from the basket or was it multiplied in the basket itself? Were new pieces created altogether, or were the pieces cloning themselves in the baskets? Endless questions. 🤷🏽‍🤷🏽‍

Let’s let that sit for another minute. In 2 Kings 4, the wife of a deceased prophet comes to Elisha and says, ‘Papa, my husband served under your ministry, and you know how he feared the Lord. But he owed some people, and one of them is threatening to take my two sons as slaves to repay.’ Elisha says, “Ha! What can I do to help? What do you have at home?” ‘Nothing, just a flask of olive oil.’ “Okay, borrow as many jars as you can from your friends and neighbours. Go into your house, lock the door, and pour the oil from your flask into the jars.” She did, and her sons kept bringing the jars till she said, ‘bring me another jar.’ Clearly she hadn’t had enough yet!🤣 The answer that followed most likely shocked her to the bone: “There aren’t any more!” Now, question is:

At what point did the oil multiply? Was it the same oil pouring from the jar or new oil created in the jars as she poured? How was it that she was pouring but the oil still remained in the flask? 🤷🏽‍

I think the point is pretty clear now:

How the promise will come to be should not be your cup of tea! 

Imagine if the disciples had tried to figure out how that food could feed the people…or the widow had not followed instructions because she couldn’t fathom how her flask could fill jars…or the servants at the wedding had questioned and disobeyed because they couldn’t see how water had anything to do with wine. Your inability to believe because you do not see the how shows how frail your trust is in: 1) God’s good heart for you; and 2) His ability to come through for you in unnatural ways! It’s also an indication that you have not fully surrendered the happenings of your life to Him. If you had, you’d realize that:

You do not have to be in control of everything all the time! 🤦‍

Now that is not to say you should go to bed and watch God drop manna from above. Watch this: Elisha had given a prophecy, that by the same time the following day, there would be so much food in abundance that 6quarts of choice flour would go for only a piece of silver, and 12quarts of barley grain also for a piece of silver. People would sell them at the gates of Samaria. [2 Kings 7] Now this was in a time of famine, so the officer assisting the King told him, “Guy, that couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven 🙄” Elisha declares, “You will see it happen with your eyes, but you will not eat any of it!!” In all honesty, this officer wasn’t a bad person. 🤷🏽 He was just thinking about the how – and it looked pretty impossible. At the same time, some starving lepers realized that they were on the verge of death, and if they returned to the city they’d still starve to death. So they decided to surrender to the Aramean/Syrian army with hope that they would allow them to live. But when they got to the edge of the camp, surprise surprise; there was no one there! The Bible says the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the footsteps of the 4 lepers as the clatter of speeding chariots and galloping of horses and the sound of a great army approaching. So they ran and left their tents, their horses, their food, everything! After filling their bellies and pockets, the lepers returned to the city and announced the good news. That day, 6quarts of choice flour were sold for a piece of silver, and 12quarts of barley grain for a piece of silver! And guess what? The officer who couldn’t fathom how this could happen happened to be in charge of that very sale, and got knocked down and trampled on to death as people rushed out!

God is surprised when you compare your earthly wisdom to His wisdom and ability to make things happen when you cannot see a way out of that situation! It is only by His mercies that we do not get consumed like this officer! When you come to Him, you must come, Scripture says, believing not only that He Is, but also that He rewards those who diligently seek Him…however that’s going to happen should not be your cup of tea!! Has God made a promise to you? – Cling to it! Forget the how! Has God told you you will prosper even though you’re counting pennies now? Hold on to it! Forget how it’s going to happen! Has God said He will give you descendants as many as the stars even though you’re starting to grey? Believe it! Forget the how! Did God say He will supply all your needs including a husband but you’ve been single for years and aren’t seeing any prospects just yet? Keep trusting! Forget the how!

Do I mean yawn, go to bed and snore? Definitely not! Realize how all the miracles had to do with activity – breaking, pouring, walking into a land?? Keep working💪🏽, if it’s financial breakthrough you want. The turnaround is in one day’s activity! Is it a child you’ve been trusting God for? Keep getting under those sheets! And enjoy it while you’re at it. 😉

Because THE HOW belongs to God. ALWAYS! 💯💯

★  RAD ★