…We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for He can even raise the dead. And He did help us and saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect Him to do it again and again.
(2 Cor 1:8-10)
If you’ve ever had to stare death, crisis, calamity or any other attack of Satan in the eye, you know that if you are not built up in the Lord, he’ll use them to try and crush & overwhelm you and undermine your faith. He’ll use them to try to get you to forget what God has done in the past for you.
What God has done for you in the past is suppose to be the fuel to strengthen your faith and trust in God. The undermining of our faith is a strategy that Satan always has and will use against us. He’ll work it against anyone. He did on Elijah and a woman both whom God had worked miracles for. Let me explain.
God had sent Elijah to the house of a widow who had a son. There was a drought in the land and people were dying. This woman was out gathering sticks for cooking her last meal for her and her son. Their food supply was depleted and she had lost hope. She was preparing her last meal for herself and her son, then expecting to die from starvation.
Elijah asked her for some food and she explained her situation to him. He told her to make him a meal first and then she could prepare one for herself and her son. Elijah then pronounced by the Spirit of God that her oil and flour would not run out until the drought was over.
She believed Elijah and made him a meal. She then discovered that no matter how much flour or oil she used, it wouldn’t run out. God was supernaturally making provision for her!
Then we come to these verses that describe a crisis that attacked her life. (Why did they? Satan always gets mad and attempts to attack those who help God or those sent from God.) Let’s read of this crisis that attacked her and her son.
Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.
Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
(1 Kings 17:17-24)
Don’t you find it interesting that she knew Elijah was a man of God after she saw him heal her son? Did she forget about that bottomless flour jar or the bottle of oil that never emptied? Didn’t she see God in that? Didn’t she see Elijah as a man of God through that miracle?
I’m sure she did, but the point I want to make is this. Sometimes in crisis and devastation, we can become so overwhelmed that we forget everything God has previously done for us. That is what happened to this widow. This is Satan’s strategy to bring us into unbelief and undermine our trust in God. We can lose track of the fact that God has never left us. We often forget those past miracles in our lives.
Our trust falters but we can’t let it. We don’t have to blindly trust God. We trust Him because His Word promises us that we can. He is on our side and wants to deliver us from every evil attack of Satan.
As the Apostle Paul said in today’s verse, “…then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for He can even raise the dead. And He did help us and saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect Him to do it again and again” (2 Cor. 1:8-10).
Isaiah 54:17 says: “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”
Don’t let the attacks of the enemy steal your goods! Have faith in God. Fight back! The Bible says “to resist the devil and he will flee.” Cry out to God but not in despair. Cry out to Him in faith and say, “Father I know you are good and I trust you to deliver me from every evil attack of the wicked one. I thank you that you are always with me and will see me through this in Jesus name.”
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Timothy Burt is a pastor, author, and writer. He is best known as the author of Fresh Manna, a daily devotional and online Bible study.
Pastor Tim became a part of the leadership team at Living Word Christian Center in 1984 and was an Associate Pastor from 1989 until May 31st, 2017. He and His wife Renee, also a Pastor at Living Word, resigned after being a part of Living Word for 33 years on May 31, 2017. They felt impressed by God to pursue the tremendous growth of their ministry "Fresh Manna," as well as teaching conferences and seminars and increasing their involvement in the mission field through Tim and Renee Burt Ministries. Tim has a Bachelor of Theology degree and is a Christian blogger who has been writing a daily inspirational and teaching devotion three days a week called "Fresh Manna" for the past 22 years. It has been read in over 227 countries (official countries and territories). Tim was named one of the top 55 blogging Pastors. He is one of the top Social Media influencers in Minnesota with a strong presence on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TimBurt with over 187,000 followers. Between Tim's Fresh Manna Devotional and Twitter influence, he virally averages reaching over 4 million people daily with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God.
Prior to working at LWCC, he worked at Northwest Airlines for 13 years. In 1985 he founded and was President of American Infant Care Products which marketed his patented invention, the first fold-down commercial infant changing table now used worldwide in public restrooms.
In their tenure at Living Word, Timothy Burt and his wife Renee created a Small Group Ministry when the church was about 800 people in size. Under the leadership of Sr. Pastors Mac and Lynne Hammond, the church grew to over 10,000 people. Pastor Tim and Renee led a diverse Small Group Ministry of over 200 groups. Tim also led weekly men's groups and a monthly Men's Breakfast of 250 plus men called Manhood for 27 years. Tim's responsibilities also included oversight over the Visitor and Member Relations Department, Leadership and Volunteer Development, and the Pastoral Care Department. Pastor Tim was also the Minnesota State Director of Christians United for Israel from 2006 thru 2017.
Tim and Renee are the parents of four children and have seven grandchildren. Tim loves to write, golf, run, and walk, and is a master gardener. He is a five-time marathon finisher. He is also a three-time award-winning gardener winning the Grand Prize in his city for his beautiful home garden and is a Master Gardener for the University of Minnesota's Master Gardener Extension Program.