Do More in a Minute Than You Could in Your Lifetime

Gary Keesee • September 26, 2017

When you trust God, He can do more in one minute than you can even imagine in your lifetime.
Look at 1 Kings 17.

In Elijah’s time, there was a drought in the land because Israel was in rebellion against God. Elijah was the prophet calling Israel to repentance. He was living by a brook and ravens were bringing him food everyday.

And they weren’t just bringing him worms and berries; they were bringing him bread and meat in the mornings and bread and meat in the evenings.

*Because God always funds His assignments.*

But because there had been no rain in the land, eventually the brook dried up.
1 Kings 17:8-9 says, “Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.’”

Now, if you don’t know this story, your first thought might be that God sent Elijah to this particular widow in Zarephath to get food because she must have a vast storehouse of food, right?

Wrong.

Read this:
>*So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”*

>*“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”*

>*Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”*

>*She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.*

So, not only did the widow not have a storehouse of food—she had only ONE meal left. *One.*

In the natural, it looked like it was her last meal. It looked like making Elijah some bread was going to cost her everything.

But God wasn’t trying to take something *from* her; He was trying to get something *to* her.

Think about it. Why was that widow chosen to help Elijah over all of the people in Israel?

Because she had the confidence, the faith, and the courage to step out and do what God said. She was sold out.

I’ve seen God do this so many times. It doesn’t always make sense, and fear may try to come, and you may want to hold back. But when you trust God, He can do more in one minute than you can even imagine in your lifetime.

*There’s your answer.*

It’s not the formula of giving that works; it’s the complete dependence on God. It’s about being sold out to God, sold out to the Kingdom, and generous. Because generosity is an expression of God’s very character. He’s in the people business. He’s *generous*, and He wants to touch people. So, if you want God to get involved in your situation, you need to impact people for Him. Even if it looks like it may take everything you have.

Trust Him.


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