And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” – Luke 5:5 ESV
Last week we spoke about God’s ability to establish the works of our hands when we involve Him in everything we do. Today, we are going to explore two stories in the Bible about how God intervened in people’s lives.
From the Old Testament, we’ll look at the story of Elisha and the widow:
“One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, ‘My husband who served you is dead…But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.’ ‘What can I do to help you?’ Elisha asked. ‘Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ ‘Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,’ she replied. And Elisha said, ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.’ So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!…When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, ‘Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.’” 2 Kings 4:1-7 (NLT)
Here, the widow was in trouble and was about to lose her family. She could have buried her head in the sand, moped around and allowed life to happen to her. Instead, she approached the man of God, trusted and obeyed his instructions which resulted in her seeing God’s intervention. By speaking to the man of God, she invited God into her situation, and she received a miracle.
Early in Jesus’ ministry, while He was at the lake of Gennesaret a multitude of people wanted to hear Him teach. So, Jesus borrowed a boat belonging to fishermen who had been out all night and caught nothing. They had given up for the day when Jesus approached them.
“And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink” Luke 5:4 -7 (ESV)
These were seasoned fishermen but after hearing the teaching of Jesus, they understood that “with God, all things are possible”, obeyed and received a miracle.
We can’t receive miracles if we lack faith and limit God. The widow could have laughed and ignored Elisha’s instructions, if she looked at the little bottle of oil she had. Simon could have mocked Jesus, thinking what did He know about fishing since he wasn’t a fisherman. They looked beyond their circumstances.
Our circumstances are never and will never be bigger than God. Once we invite Him into our situation, He will intervene in ways we can’t comprehend.
Stay blessed,
LaraLex
Hills and Valleys 