James Merritt - Never Doubt God
Since 1944, every single year, Gallup Poll has asked Americans this question, for the last 80 years, they’ve been asked this question, «Do you believe in God»? Well, in the 1950s and 1960s, when I grew up, 98% of Americans said they believed in God. In 2022, that number was down to 81%, in 2023, down to 74%, which was a record low in 40 years. Now, I guess the good news is, is that 3 out of 4 people still say they believe in God, so that’s a positive, but what I’d like to do this morning, I’d like to pose a different question 'cause I’m sure 99,99% of you believe in God. My question is this, how many of you have ever doubted God? I bet you I’d be right in saying that’s probably close to 100%.
Now, I don’t mean the existence of God, you believe that God’s up there, you believe there’s a God that’s in heaven and God exists, My question is, but how many of you have ever doubted the goodness of God? How many of you ever doubted the wisdom of God? The compassion of God? How many of you ever asked questions like this? «God, where are You? God, do You really care»? Or, how about this one? «Are You even hearing my prayer? Are You even paying attention»?
Now, here’s the good news, if you have, and I have, you’re in great company because what I love about the, well, the Bible is an honest book, that’s one thing about the Bible, you gotta be, it’s not all roses and no thorns, all, you know, fat, and sweet, and no pain and, you know, no heartache, it’s a very honest book. And when you read the Bible, some of the greatest people in the Bible doubted God. As a matter of fact, we’re in the mess we’re in right now, and by the way, our world is in a mess, our country’s in a mess, our homes are in a mess, our schools in a mess, our country’s in a mess, and I’m not being negative, I’m just telling you the truth, but have you ever thought about the fact, the reason why we’re in such a big mess is because two people named Adam and Eve doubted God?
If they hadn’t doubted God, they just done what God told 'em to do, and not done what God told 'em not to do, we wouldn’t be in the mess that we’re in, so all these great people have doubted God. There’s an entire book in the Bible about a man named Job, and all that book is about is about, how Job doubted God, and let God know it. So we’ve all been there, Maybe you saved diligently. Maybe you tithe every paycheck you ever made to the church, but the economy crashed, and you lost your 401(k), and you lost your job, well, where was God when that happened? Or maybe you fought for your marriage, you were the best spouse you knew how to be.
You did everything you could to hold that marriage together, but through no fault of your own, the marriage ended, and you wound up a single parent. God didn’t seem to have your back then did He? Or, you did your best to raise good kids. You took them to church, you set a good example for them, you did everything you could to be the best parent you knew how to be, but the prodigal left home, and maybe the prodigal is still gone. «God, how could You let this happen»? You ever feel like you’ve been holding up your end of the deal, but God’s out to lunch. We’ve all doubted God.
And we’re in a series of messages, by the way, we’re calling, «The God life,» and we’re talking about a man, his name was Elijah, he would’ve been on the Mount Rushmore of God’s prophets, one of the most famous men in the Old Testament, he was a man that was sold out to God. God used him in great, and mighty ways. But as I told you last week, James, the Lord’s brother said this about him, and it really encourages me, he said, «Elijah was a human being, even as we are…» He’s like us, just a guy. Disappointment, depression, discouragement, disillusionment, it all affected him. He went through the same up and downs in life that we do. He knew what it was like to bask in the sunshine of victory one morning, and then to be waking up in the thunderstorm of trouble the next morning.
Now, in case you missed last week, lemme review where we are, if you remember, some of you will, but if you weren’t here, lemme just take you back. We’re introduced to Elijah, he’s an unknown person, he’s a nobody from nowhere, he just appears out of the blue, he’s minding his own business, and God calls him to go to a palace that he’d never seen, to meet a king and a queen, he did not know. And He tells him, «To walk in there and give them a one-sentence message». «I’m turning off the spigot until I say another word, there will be no more rain, no more mist, no more dew, no more water until God says, 'It’s time to turn it back on.'»
Then he just walks out. Well, the moment he walks out, he just became the most wanted man in the Nation of Israel. He is on the top, not top 10 list, top one list. So what does God do for this man, give him a gold watch, send him to a Four Seasons. give him a pension, trip to the beach? God sends him into the wilderness to live next to a creek, where he can drink water and eat bread and meat, you know, supplied to him by the birds.
Now Elijah was just like us. So how do you think Elijah felt? He felt just like you and I felt, he was thinking the same thing you and I would’ve been thinking, «Lemme get this straight, Lord, let me understand what’s going on here. I did what You told me to do. I said what You told me to say. I have put my life on the line. The king and the queen have one goal in their life, they want me dead, and Your reward is to put me by a creek, fed by the birds, all by myself». Some of you’re looking at me right now, and here’s what you’re saying, «That’s exactly the way I feel. That’s exactly where I am».
Well, I got some news for you. If you’ve been there yesterday, or you are there today, or you might be there tomorrow, this message is for you, but I wanna give you a word of encouragement right up front. If you ever get caught in the doubt trap, don’t automatically take the guilt trip, because doubt does have its benefits, now, you may find it hard to believe a preacher’s telling you that today, we talk about faith all the time, but let’s talk about doubt. There’s a positive side to doubt, you say, «What do you mean»? It does have benefits.
Gary Parker wrote a book entitled «The Gift of Doubt,» he said this, «If faith never encounters doubt, if truth never struggles with error, if good never battles with evil, how can faith know its own power? In my own pilgrimage, if I had to choose between a faith that has stared doubt in the eye and made it blink, or a naive faith that’s never known the firing line of doubt, I would choose the former every time».
So as we look at this man who lived the God life, this man named Elijah, I just wanna follow his example, I wanna see how he handled his doubt. So today, I want to teach you one central lesson, when you trust and obey, God will clear the way, every time, when you trust and obey, God will clear the way. So you wanna live the God life, well, the God life means you really, at the end of the day, you’ll never doubt God. And Elijah teaches us, there are four things about God you should never, ever doubt. Number 1, Never Doubt God’s Promise, Never Doubt God’s Promise.
Now take your Bibles, I want you to turn to a Book called 1 Kings, just go to Genesis, turn right, and go about eight or nine books, you’ll come to 1 Kings Chapter 17. Now, let me just kind of take you back and remind you of where we are in the story. Elijah’s been in total seclusion, he’s in the middle of nowhere, he’s been sleeping by a creek, he’s being fed bread and meat by a bunch of birds, but the good news is he’s alive, nobody knows where he is. he survived this confrontation with this evil king, everything’s going well, but then we read this. «Some time later the brook dried up because there’d been no rain in the land».
Now you’re Elijah, as if things couldn’t get worse, now all of a sudden, you wake up one morning, and you know, you realize, «I don’t hear the brook bubbling, I don’t hear the water flowing». You’re right, 'cause all there is now is rocks, and dirt, and mud because the brook has dried up, and know what’s even worse, the brook dried up because of you, you’re the one that turned it off, you’re the one that cut the water off, it was really your fault 'cause there’s been no rain. So at this point, you’re Elijah, here’s what you’re probably doing. «What are You up to now? What in the world are You doing»?
Well, what does God do now, send him to a Four Seasons? Give him an all-expense paid vacation to Hawaii, a mansion on Easy Street? Oh no, here’s what God does. «Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there.'» Now, that doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s about to mean a lot to you, because Elijah just went from bad to worst, you say, «What do you mean»? He says, «Elijah, I want you to get up and I want you to go to Zarephath». Now had you been Elijah, you would’ve been saying, «You have got to be kidding me, You cannot be serious».
Lemme tell you why. Number one, Zarephath is a 100-mile journey. Number two, it was the headquarters of Baal worship. You’ve heard of the Bible Belt, this was the Baal Belt. Number three, this is Jezebel’s hometown. You’re the most wanted man in Israel, there’s a Wanted, Dead or Alive poster in every tree, And You’re asking me to go to the headquarter of Jezebel’s hometown where Baal is worshiped, now you’re the most wanted man in Israel, so everybody wants you dead. And He says to you, «Go a hundred miles, you’ll go by foot, you’ll go by yourself, you’ll be unaccompanied, there will be no secret service detail, there will be no bodyguards, you’ll be going through open country, there’s a bounty on your head to ground zero of paganism and idolatry».
Now, let me just ask you a simple question, would you have just a little bit of doubt about what God’s doing in your heart? Don’t look at me like you’re so holy this morning. You’d be going, «What in the world are You doing»? But things don’t get better, they get worse, listen to this. «I have directed a widow there to supply you with food».
Now ladies, you’d have to understand the culture back in that day to understand what a slap in that face was to Elijah. Because back in that day, no self-respecting man would ever allow a woman to take care of him, period! Maybe his mother, maybe his wife, maybe a daughter, but no way would a man that a woman ever take care of him. Besides that, a woman he doesn’t even know, besides that, she’s a Gentile woman, she’s a pagan, she’s an idolater, she doesn’t even believe in the God he believes in, and oh, worse than that, she’s not just a widow, she’s got a kid, and she’s poor as she can be.
Now there are two things a man would never take advantage of in that day, he would never take advantage of a widow, and he would never take advantage of an orphan. So Elijah could have doubted God, he could have argued with God, he could have done what you and I would’ve done, «You know what, I’ve had about enough of this, would You just leave me alone»? But then we see why Elijah is in God’s hall of fame. Listen to these next words. «So he went to Zarephath». Just does what he’s told. He doesn’t understand it, he doesn’t even like it, he just did what he told. And the reason why he did, you know why? Only one reason, he believed God’s promise. Because when God said to him, «Go to Zarephath, there’s a widow there who will provide you with food».
When God said that to him, He just guaranteed Elijah one thing, «Elijah, I’m gonna protect you. Nobody can harm you, nobody can kill you, you’re going to have a safe journey, nobody will lay a hand on you, you know why? Because I just told you, you are going to get there». Now that raises a big question, I’d be asking, «But Pastor, why is God doing this? Why does God wearing this guy out? Why does He keep taking him lower and lower and lower»? Okay, it’s a hard lesson. «When you place your faith in God, God will test your faith so He can toughen your faith. When you place your faith in God, He will test your faith so He can toughen your faith».
See, when he was alone by that brook called Cherith all by himself, drinking that water, and eating that bread that the birds brought him, God was testing his faith, but now, «Go to Zarephath, I want to toughen your faith». Lemme tell you why that’s so important. I read the other day, I’d never read this before, a fascinating story. Back in 1987, there was a group of engineers and scientists and they said, «We wanna build this artificial ecosystem, totally closed in, artificial, but it’s gonna be the greatest place in the world».
It was built over three-plus acres, had the largest enclosed system ever created, and they thought they had it perfectly designed, plant life would thrive, it would be climate-controlled, with purified air, totally clean water, totally rich soil and nutrients, natural light, they said, «We’ve got it all figured out». And it was good for about three months. But then they had a problem, It was really strange, trees would grow to a certain height, and then they just fall over, and they could not figure out why. But then they discovered, trees that grow outdoors are buffeted by winds that blow in all kinds of directions. Do you know how trees respond when the wind blows? They do two things, they deepen their roots and they grow stronger bark.
So here’s what they discovered, trees that don’t have wind, and don’t have rain, and don’t have storms, they just fall over. Can I tell you something? So do we, without winds, without rain, without storm, our faith will fail, it will just fall over. So God knows what He’s doing. God brings things into our life, so He can test our faith and toughen our faith, so just remember, when things don’t seem to be going your way, listen to me, when things don’t seem to be going your way, they’re always going God’s way. He knows what he’s doing, He’s testing your faith, He’s toughening your faith. Number 1, Never Doubt God’s Promise. Number 2, Never Doubt God’s Provision.
Now watch this. Elijah makes the journey, walks into a town, he doesn’t know one soul in that town, he’s just hoping to God, nobody recognizes him because if they do, he’s a dead man. He just knows somewhere in this town, there is a widow that’s supposed to take care of him. Well guess what happens? «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.'»
Now remember, they’ve never met each other, she is a total stranger. And normally in that day, a woman would be afraid to talk to a man she didn’t even know, but somehow, this woman immediately senses, «There’s something different about this guy, and I don’t know why, I don’t really wanna do it, but I’m gonna really open up to this man, I’m really going to talk to him». So she opens up to him, she tells him the truth, listen to what she says. «'And sure as the lord’s 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’m gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, '» this is so sad, «'that we may eat it, and die.'»
Well, that’s just heartbreaking. He’s on the doorstep of a woman who’s actually getting ready to fix her last meal, she’s going to face certain death, her son’s going to die, she’s going to die because there’s no water, so there are no crops, and there are no crops, so there is no food, and though she doesn’t even know it yet, thank God for this, she doesn’t know it’s Elijah’s fault because if she had, she probably would’ve murdered the man. «It’s all your fault». But here’s the thing about Elijah, you know you got, ladies, I’ll be honest, you probably going, «Man, what a buffoon this guy is».
Any normal man would’ve said what? «Hey, listen, I’m sorry, I can’t take your bread, I can’t take your water, I didn’t know you were so poor, I didn’t know you were so destitute, Please forgive me for even asking». That’s not what Elijah does, look what he does. «Elijah said to her, 'Don’t be afraid. Go on and do as you have said. But first make me 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, this is what He wants you to do.'»
So, I mean, it’s amazing, Elijah, he tells this woman, he says, «Look, go make your bread first, go make my bread first,» 'cause he says, «The jar of flour will not be used up, the jug of oil will not run dry until the day of the Lord sends rain on the land». So now he is really putting her on the spot, he says, «Listen, I know you’re hungry, I know that you’ve gotta go fix a meal for you and your son, but I want you to make it for me first». And then he says, «Let me tell you why. If you’ll trust the God that I serve, I know you don’t know Him yet, but if you trust the God I serve, I promise you, you’ll never run out of flower, you’ll never run out of oil».
Now at this point, Elijah and the widow have something in common, they both have to believe God, they both gotta decide, «Am I gonna believe God or not»? Well, Elijah believed God, He believed what God would do, because of what God had already done, God had already given him water at the creek, God had already fed him with the birds, so he says, «I know God is going to come through». So by the way, if you’re having trouble believing God for today, just think about all that God has done for you yesterday. If you’re doubting God today, can I just remind you of something? If God hadn’t taken care of you yesterday, you wouldn’t be here.
So you know you can trust God for today, based on what God’s already done for you yesterday, in other words, «When you know you’re where God wants you to be, doing what God wants you to do, then God will be where He needs to be and do what you need Him to do». Now Elijah had no idea when he walked into that town, he had no idea. «How is a bankrupt widow, who has no money, with a child, with no food in the pantry, how is she going to feed me»? But he didn’t doubt God’s provision. Well, the widow, now, she’s got a decision to make. What’s she gonna do? She only has two choices. «I’m gonna take care of me and my son first, or I’m gonna take care of you first. I’m gonna take what little I have, and I’m gonna make it so we’ve got at least one last meal, or I’m gonna give most of it, if not all of it to you».
Well, she makes the right decision. «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». Now, do you think it was easy for that woman to do that? I mean, really, to take what will she had and give it first to a man she’d never met, who knew a God she didn’t even believe in, but she did, and look what happened now, here’s the lesson for all of us who follow Jesus. Here’s the lesson for those of us who say we believe in God, ask you a simple question.
If that widow had kept everything to herself, if that widow had said, «I’m not feeding you, I’m looking out for number one, I’m gonna feed me, and I’m gonna feed my son, you’re on your own». If she had done what most people would’ve done, if she had done what you and I would’ve been tempted to do, you know what would happen? She would’ve died, and her son would’ve died, it would’ve been her last supper, but, now watch this, this widow was about to learn a great lesson I wanna teach you, and by the way, before I put it up there, most of you don’t believe what I’m gonna put up there, and after I put it up there, most of you will walk out that door, and you still won’t believe it, but it’s true, you ready? Here’s the lesson.
«When you give God all that you have, you always wind up with more than you started with. When you give God all that you have, you always wind up with more than you started with». See, I tell you, I’ve said this for 48 years as a pastor, you cannot outgive God, He will not let you outgive Him, He does honor His word, He will do more, if you’ll give God a 10th of your income, He will do more with 90% of it than you can do with all of it. When you give God all that you have, you always come up with more than you started with, and lemme tell you why that’s true, 'cause when you give God all that you have, then all you have left is God, and when all you have left is God, that’s when God says, «I got you right where I want you. Now I can bless you, now let me show you what I can do».
But you don’t get it, because God’s economics are not our economics, it doesn’t work the way you think it does, lemme prove something to you, Jesus said it in a different way, in Matthew 16:25, here’s what Jesus said. «Whoever wants to save their life will,» keep it, hoard it, guard it, protect it, invest all of it in condos and lake houses, houses at the lake and boats, and nothing wrong with all those things, but he says, «All those wanna save their, no, they’ll lose it,» but watch this, «But whoever loses their life for me will find it».
So lemme tell you what you’re gonna find at the end of your life when you draw your last breath, and you didn’t tithe, you didn’t give a dime to God’s work, and you gave just a pittance to God’s work, but you got the boat, and you got the house at the lake, and you got the condo, and you got the nice clothes, and you got the nice cars, lemme tell you what you’re gonna learn when you draw your last breath, what you give to God, you keep, but what you keep for yourself, you lose, Never Doubt God’s Promise, Never Doubt God’s Provision.
Here’s the third thing, Never Doubt God’s Providence. Now at this point, think about what Elijah this widow have, they’ve got everything, they’ve got the three things we all want, right? They’ve got stability, everything’s good, they’ve got safety, everybody’s protected, and they’ve got security, stability, everything, they got those three, security, safety, stability. Elijah, the widow, the little boy, they’ve got all they need, they’ve got good, I mean, they’ve got the good life, they got food, they got shelter, they’ll never run out of food, don’t even have to work for it, Elijah’s safe, nobody recognizes him or nobody knows where he is, he’s sleeping well every night. He’s probably thinking to himself what you and I’d be thinking, he’d probably be saying to God right now, «Now You’re doing the right thing. Now this is the way it ought to work. Now you’re being the God that I want you to be, right? Everything’s coming up roses».
Yeah, God ain’t finished, then this happens. «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 to kill my son? '» So now this woman’s asking a very legitimate question, that we’ve all asked at one time or another. «What have I done to deserve this? I don’t understand, I did everything man, who I don’t even know told me to do. I trusted in a God, I don’t even believe in, and now, my son’s dead».
Now, you gotta understand, the reason why this woman reacted that way, was because of what she believed about her God, who was Baal, and when you understand that, you understand why she reacted that way. See, Baal was not a loving god, Baal was an angry god. Baal was a hateful god, Baal was a vindictive god, Baal could even demand that you’d sacrifice and burn your own children, there was no room for a God of love in the Baal religion, so here’s what she’s really telling Elijah, «Ha, I knew it, your God’s no better than my god. My god doesn’t love me, your God doesn’t love me. My god doesn’t care about me, your God doesn’t care about me. Your God’s no better than mine, your God’s just as bad as mine».
And I just wanna take a moment, I want you to understand, I want you to get something out here, we do live in a broken world, and there are times that sin does bring pain, sometimes, we do reap what we sow. Sometimes, we do get what we deserve, but that’s not the case here. There’s nothing to indicate this woman had done anything to deserve her child’s death. She had done at that point, everything God wanted her to do, even though she didn’t even believe in this God, she did everything God wanted her to do. She did everything to raise that boy right. She treated Elijah the way Elijah should have been treated. Elijah, look at him, what’s he been doing? Obeying God’s word, doing God’s will, performing God’s work, she’s asking, «Why»? So is he.
«Then he cried out to the Lord, 'Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I’m staying with, by causing her son to die? '» Hey, Elijah’s doubting God, «You brought me here for this? You brought me here to put me through this? What in the world are You up to? Do You even know what You’re doing? I don’t get it, why did You bring me here, just to bring hurt, and harm, and heartache, to a sweet little woman, who’s just trying to live and make ends meet, plus, take the life of an innocent boy»?
Now lemme just stop, and just tell you something, make you feel better. Why is a normal question, why is a legitimate question. You will not get out of this life without it sometime, looking up and going, «Why»? I don’t know why, two kids were killed in Appalachia School, I don’t know why. I don’t know why teachers were killed in Appalachia School. I don’t know why some 14-year-old boy thought that would solve his problems, I don’t know why, you don’t know why, nobody knows why, it’s legitimate questions.
Now, sometimes, God gives us the answer in this life, but sometimes, He gives it to us in the life to come, but here’s the key I want you to remember, the reason why my joy never fails, the reason why my faith never fails, is because I know at the end of the day, anything that happens, is happening in the providence of God, He knows what He’s doing, He always does what is right, and we just have to wait on the Lord. I read a story the other day, I loved this story, when I first heard this story, so I know it’s a good story.
So there’s a little boy, and he was in a city, and he was standing right in the middle of a block, in this real busy city, standing on the sidewalk, and he was obviously waiting on the bus, Well, this old man walked by and he said, «Hey son, what are you doing»? He said, «Well, I’m waiting for the bus». And the man said, «Well son, the bus doesn’t stop here, the bus, you gotta go to the next block, the end of the next block, that’s where the bus stops». Well, the kid looked at him and he said, «Well yeah, I know that’s where it stops for everybody else, but it’s gonna stop right here for me».
And this old man just could not believe what he heard, and he’s trying to reason with his kid, and he said, «Son, I’m telling you, I’ve lived here for 10 years, and I’ve been here, you know, most of my life, and I’m telling you, you gotta go to the end of the next block to catch this bus». Well, the son was, you know, the boy was very polite and he said, «No sir, with all respect, the bus is gonna stop right here and pick me up». Well now the man’s getting annoyed at the arrogance of this kid. He said, «Son, I’m just gonna be honest with you, you see the bus is coming right now, and if you wanna catch that bus, you better start running down to the end of the block, or you’re not gonna catch that bus».
Which, to his amazement, the bus stops right in front of him, and the door opens, and he gets on the bus, and the man’s jaw just fell open. And as the young boy got on the bus, he turned around with a smile on his face, and he said, «My Dad is the bus driver». Listen to me, if you’re a follower of Jesus, God’s always driving the bus, God will never pass you by, no matter where you’re standing on that street, He’ll stop, He’ll open the door, He’ll say, «Get in, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, I know what I’m doing,» Never Doubt God’s Providence.
So last thing, Never Doubt God’s Promise. Never Doubt God’s Provision, Never Doubt God’s Providence, here’s the last thing and we’ll be done, Never Doubt God’s Power, Never Doubt God’s Power. You know, my favorite philosopher, I’m a deep reader, I mean, really, I read deep stuff, and my, I think the most brilliant philosopher in the of this planet, it’s not Aristotle, it’s not Plato, it’s Yogi Berra, he is the greatest philosopher in the history of the world. And Yogi Berra famously said, «It ain’t over till it’s over. It ain’t over till it’s over». Well, the story’s not over, you ready? «'Give 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».
Now Elijah’s right where some of you are this morning, he’s in a situation he can’t take care of, he’s got a problem he can’t solve. As a matter of fact, he really is not even sure what he ought to do, because he’s got a dead boy on his hands, and there’s only one thing that dead boy needs. He doesn’t need money, he doesn’t need food, he doesn’t need water, he doesn’t need shelter, he doesn’t need clothing, The one thin that boy needs, what is it? He needs life. The one thing Elijah can’t give him, he needs life, so there’s another lesson to remember if you’re gonna live the God life, you ready?
«When you have no power to handle a problem, always go to the God who does. When you have no power to handle a problem, always go to the God who does». So what does Elijah do? I tell people all the time, there are people sometimes come to my office and say, «Pastor, I don’t know what to do»? Here’s my first piece of advice, «All right, when you don’t know what to do, do what you know to do». So what does Elijah do? He does what he knows to do, watch this. «Then he cried out to the Lord». Boom! «Then he cried out to the Lord, 'Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I’m saying with, by causing her son to die? '»
What does Elijah do? He goes to God, he focuses on God, he gets into the presence of God, he prays to God 'cause he didn’t know what else to do, because remember, there was no manual on how to do this, there was no YouTube on how to raise a dead boy, there was no college giving a class on raising dead boys. But Elijah believes that God can do what he cannot do, because faith, listen, faith is not just believing in God for what God has done in the past, faith is believing in God to do what He’s never done before. So, he doesn’t just pray, he acts, he does the only thing he knows to do, watch this. «Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times». So he lays down on this boy, flat, face to face, belly to belly, leg to leg, «And cried out to the Lord, 'Lord, my God, let this boy’s life return to him! '»
Now, you’re talking about amazing, If you know your Bible, there’s one thing Jewish people could not touch, what was it? A dead person, dead people are dirty, dead people are defiled, dead people are unpurified. If you touched a dead person, you had to separate, you had to isolate and separate from society, you had to purify yourself, you had to go wash yourself. Desperate times, call for desperate measures, Elijah didn’t know what else to do. When you don’t know what to do, do what you know to do. So Elijah lays prostrate three times, while he is crying out to God, he does what he knows to do, believe in God for what only God can do, then he waits, and the bus door opens.
«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! '» 'Cause, when you go to God, and you tell Him by faith what you need, and then by faith you do what you need to do, and you’ve done all you can do, then you just wait on the bus, and you leave the rest to God. Listen, never doubt God’s power! Now, lemme tell you why. Remember the first thing we talked about last week? The God who can stop the rain, can also raise a boy from the dead. The God who can turn off the spigots of heaven, can also open up the casket, and take the dead person out.
So, you say, «Man that’s great,» but the story doesn’t end, matter of fact, it’s not even the best part of the story, you think it is, oh man, this is where the credits would roll, oh no, the story’s not over, the best part of the story still to come 'cause now you’re about to learn why all this happened. Why does God say, «Go to Zarephath»? Why does God say, «Go to a widow that has nothing to give you»? Why does God let a young innocent boy die? Why does God do all of that? Here’s why, you ready? Buckle up. «Then the woman said to Elijah, 'Now I know that you’re a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth, I get it.'»
What was God’s purpose? Why does God send Elijah to a widow and to this little boy, just to give them an endless amount of food? No, just so he could prove he could raise a dead body to life? No, he had a far greater purpose than that, you know why God did all that? He wanted to take a godless mother, and turn her into a godly mother. He wanted to take a woman that was headed to hell, and make sure she was headed to heaven. He wanted to take a woman that was living in darkness. and show her what it meant to live in the light. He wanted a woman who didn’t even believe in Him, to come to know Him, and love Him, and worship Him, and serve Him, that’s why He did what He did. He wanted to turn a woman’s heart from a pagan god, to the real God, and He wanted to teach both a widow and a prophet, «This is what real faith is all about».
See, remember, we’re gonna find this out in the next week or two, God had even greater things in store for Elijah, there’s a far greater battle facing Elijah than just raising a boy from the dead or feeding a widow, but in the meantime, He’s purifying a widow from her sins, He’s bringing her into the family of God. And by the way, you know what’s amazing? We don’t even know this woman’s name, we’re never told what her name is, but she made God’s hall of faith because in Hebrews Chapter 11, thousands of years later, we read these words, «Women receive back their dead, raised to life again…»
Talking about this very widow. Both of those people had to trust God like they’d never trusted God before, ever. So what’s the lesson? What’s it all about? You always, you never, never doubt God’s promise, you never doubt God’s providence, you never doubt God’s power, you never, ever doubt it, so I’ll just close with this, I’ve kept a Spiritual Journal, this next year will be 45 years. I will have kept a Spiritual Journal, since 1985. I would have kept a Journal, 40 years next year. In the front of my Journal, I wrote these words. I’ll read them at least once a week. «There are many things as a pastor you don’t have control over. You didn’t choose when or where you would be born or what your natural talents would be. God, in his sovereignty, chose those things for you. But there is one thing you do have control over and that’s the most important thing: It’s how you choose to believe God».
So I wanna ask all of us a question. When you walk out this door, and you get in your car, and you go home, how are you gonna choose to believe God? How are you gonna choose to believe God with your finances? How are you gonna choose to believe God for that lost neighbor that you’ve never shared Jesus with? How are you gonna choose to believe God in a marriage that looks like it can’t make it, but it can? Yes, we all may doubt at times, but when you’re in a bout with doubt, don’t let your faith give out.
When you’re in a bout with doubt, don’t let your faith give out. Never doubt the God who loves you, the God who cares for you, the God who has a plan and a purpose for your life, and the God that proved it, when he sent his Son Jesus to die for your sins, and brought Him back from the grave, so that you might have eternal life 'cause think about this, and we’ll be done. If that woman, listen to me, if that woman’s son had not lost his physical life, she would’ve never received eternal life. So when all is said, and all is done, don’t let your faith, ever, give out to doubt, never doubt God.
Would you pray with me? Just bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment. Can I be honest with you? Do you know why people ultimately wind up spending eternity separated from God, can I tell you why? Because they doubt God. They either doubt that Jesus really was who He said He was, or Jesus really didn’t what He said He did. Or they really doubt that God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, so whoever so believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life, they just doubt it. Well, I’m asking some of you today, you’re watching online, you’re watching on television, you’re in this room, you’ve never given your life to Christ, you’ve never really done it. Some of you, you know why you haven’t?
You say, «Oh, you don’t know how bad my life’s been, you don’t know how many things I’ve done wrong. God can never save me». Never doubt God. And if today, you wanna get rid of your doubt, and replace it with faith. If you want to cast out doubt, and bring faith in, then why don’t you just understand? The bad news is that we’ve all sin-separated from God, all of us. The worst news is, there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. The good news is, Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, and the best news is, eternal life is a gift, He bought it and paid for it, all you gotta do is take it. And tonight, today, you could just say something like this:
Lord Jesus, I confess You are my Lord. I’m not just saying it, I’m confessing it. I’m surrendering to You as the Lord of my life, I’m asking You to come into my heart, I’m giving all that I am to all that You are. And I believe in my heart, God raised You for the dead, You are alive right now, You’re on the throne of this Universe.