Monday, March 7, 2011
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We had a home of our own! The ministry I was working with in the New York area that is. We rented a facility for many years, and then God provided this rambling old home that we called our headquarters and the home of our ministry finally. And, it was a great gift, but it took a lot of work to get it in shape, like most old homes do. So, a lot of friends came in to help us with painting, and wallpapering, and electrical work. And then we were in, but one big job remained. See, the outside looked kind of shabby. It very much needed a good paint job. The problem was that our staff didn't have the time, and I'm not sure they really had the ability to do it right. And we for sure didn't have the real equipment to do a big painting job.
Well, along came a friend of the ministry who is a painter. Bless his heart, he had the equipment, he had the ability. He said to us, "I'll make you a deal. You get the paint, you get some helpers, you tape up all the trim around the building, and I'll do the rest." He had a deal. Couldn't pass that one up! So, he would do what we couldn't do on this basis, "You get it ready, and I'll do the job." I know someone else who works like that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Get It Ready."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Kings chapter 4. Let me begin reading at verse 1, "The wife of the man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, 'Your servant, my husband, is dead. And you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.' Elisha replied to her, 'How can I help you? Tell me what do you have in your house?' 'Well, your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, except a little oil.' Elisha said, 'Well, go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars, and don't ask for just a few.'" I like that part. "'Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.' So she left him, shut the door, and they brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another one.' But he replied, 'There's not a jar left.' And then the oil stopped flowing."
Now, I love this story! Elisha, representing the Lord, is basically saying, "You get it ready, and God will do the job." Just like my painter friend. You get all those jars in here. Now, I know that you've only got a little oil. She'd look like a fool with her neighbors. She's out on a limb. "Give me all your jars. Give me all your jars!" For that little bit of oil?
But God is saying to her, "You prepare for a supernatural result. You just get it prepared; God will produce it." He does it all the way through the Bible; you just see it over and over again. He says, "I want you to walk into the waters of the Jordan River, and then they will part. You act like there's going to be a miracle, and I'll do the job."
Remember the wedding feast at Cana? "Bring the water pots, fill them with water, and I'll take care of the rest. But you act like there's going to be a miracle." "Bring that lunch to Me and I'll make plenty of it." "Move the stone away from Lazarus' tomb, and if you act like there's going to be a miracle, I'll do the rest."
Here's an important principle: the size of the preparation often determines the size of the miracle. See, we live in unnecessary poverty because we overestimate the problem and we underestimate God. So, pray as if something God-sized is going to happen. Plan as if something God-sized is going to happen. Budget, and dream as if something God-sized is going to happen. Live as if that obstacle will move like the waters of the Jordan River. Live as if there's going to be plenty of what we've run out of like that wedding feast at Cana. Live as if what's dead will come to life, like Lazarus coming back from his tomb.
Remember, the size of the preparation determines the size of the miracle. Now, maybe you're in a situation that's too big for you right now. Can't you just hear God saying, "You get it ready. I'll do the job."