DAILY DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR WESLEY November 15, 2021

Increasing Faith

The word of the LORD came to him, saying, ``Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. `It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there." So he went and did according to the word of the LORD,. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. It happened after a while that the brook dried up, Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ``Arise, go to Zarephath, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." So, he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, ``Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink." As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ``Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand." But she said, `, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." Then Elijah said to her, ``Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.` `For thus says the LORD God of Israel, `The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'" So, she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah. Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. So, she said to Elijah, ``What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!" He said to her, ``Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. He called to the LORD and said, ``O LORD my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?" Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, ``O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him." The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, ``See, 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 in your mouth is truth." 1 Kings 17

We’d all like to have great faith that stands firm in the face of challenges and difficulties. But God doesn’t enlarge our faith instantly; it’s a slow process that happens over our lifetime and often involves trials. Each time we choose to believe the Lord and step out in obedience, we gain greater confidence to trust Him the next time.

Elijah shows us what increasing faith looks like. He relied on the Lord to provide food and water at the brook, and he did so again in Zarephath—the miracle this time providing for a widow and her son as well. Then, we read about an even greater demonstration of faith, when he prayed that the Lord would raise the widow’s son to life. On each of these occasions, Elijah stepped out in obedience and experienced the reliability of God. As a result, his faith grew stronger.

There will be opportunities for you to believe in the Lord and respond with obedience. These situations are what we often call “problems.” Try looking at each difficulty as an opportunity designed by God specifically for the purpose of increasing your faith as you see His dependability in action. With each step of obedience, your trust in Him will strengthen.

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