Living Through The Nothings
Pt. 2 - Rain Man
It is one of my least favorite words. Nothing. It is a word that reveals lack. It holds no element of promise. It contains no ounce of hope. Let me see if I can explain.
You work for an hour on your car, you have sweat, blood and tears in the repair and you turn the key and nothing!
You get up early every morning strap on the running shoes, grit your teeth and run the miles you need to run. After a week you step on the scale and nothing!
You watch as everyone throws parties, buys gifts, and celebrates and then when it is your turn, your special occasion, your day there is nothing (and all the father's celebrating Mother's Day said . . . )!
The demand is there but the resource is not! The need is apparent the solution is not. A withdrawal is requested but there seems to be no funds. Energy is a must but the tanks are empty! Nothing in the cabinets. Nothing in the bank. Nothing in reserve. Relationship longed for but nothing. Nothing!
I hate the word. I hate the experience even more.
I wonder if maybe some of you are presently living through a nothing moment?
Expectations unmet? Dry when you expected oasis? Caring has become cursing. Wedding turned to war. Health lost to sickness. Healing only a desire. Nothing.
How do you live through that?
There are several "Nothing" accounts in Scripture that I think we would do well to examine and learn from. If all your dreams are coming to pass and life is all fairy tale endings for you, then you are not going to understand or need this series. But for the rest of us maybe this will provide some help if not hope.
Last week we dealt with the nothing experience that the disciples had. They were represented with the challenge to feed a hungry crowd and they had nothing. Jesus uses that situation to publicly expose their nothing so that they would have to rely on Him and on others around them. Then He exposes the lie of lack. The disciples had allowed the size of their need to overwhelm the truth of what they had to offer.
So let's go forward.
Text: 1 Kings 18:1, 42-46
A long time passed. Then God’s word came to Elijah. The drought was now in its third year. The message: “Go and present yourself to Ahab; I’m about to make it rain on the country.” Elijah set out to present himself to Ahab. The drought in Samaria at the time was most severe.
Meanwhile, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bowed deeply in prayer, his face between his knees. Then he said to his young servant, “On your feet now! Look toward the sea.”He went, looked, and reported back, “I don’t see a thing.”“Keep looking,” said Elijah, “seven times if necessary.” And sure enough, the seventh time he said, “Oh yes, a cloud! But very small, no bigger than someone’s hand, rising out of the sea.”“Quickly then, on your way. Tell Ahab, ‘Saddle up and get down from the mountain before the rain stops you.’” Things happened fast. The sky grew black with wind-driven clouds, and then a huge cloudburst of rain, with Ahab hightailing it in his chariot for Jezreel. And God strengthened Elijah mightily. Pulling up his robe and tying it around his waist, Elijah ran in front of Ahab’s chariot until they reached Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.“There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The scene is simple . . . the nation is in a drought due to the sin and idolatry of its leaders. Elijah the prophet has declared that there would be no rain and there has been nothing . . . not a single drop . . . for three long years. Now, after a head to head battle with 450 prophets of Baal, Elijah on the heels of his great victory now declares that the rain is about to come. Elijah goes into prayer he sends his servant to examine the horizon for the purpose of spotting rain (the first ever recorded storm tracker). But time and time again the servant comes back with the dreaded response . . . I see nothing! If I had been Elijah the servant would not have liked my response! Come on man my reputation as a prophet is on the line. Come on man my credentials are being questioned. Dude look harder people are beginning to laugh. 6 times the servant goes and 6 times he returns with nothing.
So what do you do when you expect to see something and instead you see nothing? What do you do when you expect a miracle and can't see any change? What do you do when you are holding onto a hope and it seems like you are wasting your time? Elijah teaches us three important lessons!
a. To live through the nothings you must believe promise over proof!
Man don't you wish you knew what Elijah said in that prayer? I mean that must have been a gully washer prayer! It must be one of the most faith filled prayers ever! Right? I mean imagine being so full of faith that you can pray rain into existence. I want to mess with you a minute . . . I don't think there is any faith in his prayer. Why do I say that? He had already been promised that there was going to be rain. He was only requesting that God would actually do what He had already promised He would do! And Elijah had already seen God do what He said! He knew God's track record. So when he prays for rain and the the proof says there is no sign of rain the faith that Elijah had was that he believed the promise more than he believed the proof!
In the nothings, I am not asking you to exercise or come up with supernatural amounts of faith. I am not asking you to become some hero of faith. In the nothings, I am simply asking you to remember what God has already promised. He is not a man that He should lie. Not one word will be unfulfilled! You must come to the place that even if your present picture, your present view, your present reality screams nothing you make up your mind to stand firm on what has been promised! The lack of visual proof didn't override what he had been promised. You must come to the place where proof isn't more powerful than promise.
Some of you have proof that you have a disease but can I remind you that you have a promise of healing?
Some of you have proof of a broken marriage but you have a promise of being whole again.
Some of you have proof that your marriage is being broken but you have the promise that a three strand cord is not so easily broken!
Some of you have proof of struggling financially but you have a promise that He will live up to His name Jehovah Jireh "Our Provider"!
Some of you have proof of a crazy kid but you have a promise that not one member of your household will be lost!
Hang on to the promise even when all you see is proof of clear skies! He can still make it rain!
There was faith involved but it wasn't required to believe there would be rain that was promised. No . . . faith was required to believe God more than his servant's eye sight!
b. To live through the nothings you must remain in position.
I believe that our biggest and toughest challenge during the nothings is to stay in position. When we go through nothings we want something so bad that we become distracted and we tend to get in God's way! Notice that Elijah put his face between his knees and when the "nothing" report came back there isn't even any indication that Elijah looked up! He may have, but we don know for a fact that he didn't change position! Six times . . . nothing . . . and he stays in the same position!
I want to challenge you this morning that if you are in a season of nothing it is time to take a cue from Elijah and stay in the position of prayer. Don't be distracted or discouraged out of praying! Too many of us share our need with facebook more than we share it with our Father and the problem is no one on facebook can meet the need! Stay in position! Make up your mind that you will not leave the birthing position! Out of that position of prayer God will birth rain in my desert!
Too many of us pray, see nothing or get a report of nothing and we jump up and leave the birthing position and we abort the something that God would have sent! Too often we pray and get up to try to make things happen ourselves. I believe that our seasons of nothing are often prolonged or permanent simply because we refuse to stay in the position of prayer! Elijah didn't experience "something out of nothing" because after the first report of nothing he gets up and worships more, dances more, gives more, prophecies more, works more, works harder . . . no he just remains in the position of prayer. He stuck his head between his knees and kissed distractions goodbye until blue skies are invaded by a small cloud!
c. To live through the nothings you must learn that small cloud equals big miracle.
Can you imagine what might have happened if Elijah had dismissed the cloud because it wasn't big enough? What if he had been like . . . well I was expecting a big cloud because I need a big breakthrough so I guess God isn't going to come through. Thankfully, Elijah was tuned in enough to see the first indication of change.
Too many of us overlook the small things God has brought into our lives. We need a miracle and we get a 20 cent raise and miss the small thing He sends to start the process. We need a miracle and He sends a person who can mentor and speak into our life and we overlook them thinking they are just a know it all, blow hard. We need a miracle and we just since His presence in service and overlook that He is trying to inform you that big change is on the horizon and we dismiss it as just a good service. We need a breakthrough and we hear a message and dismiss it as just a good sermon when it contained a small cloud of wisdom that could produce a deluge of change!
Too often we fail to realize that small clouds can produce big miracles! Be aware. Be alert. Look around you. What small thing has entered your life that could be God's doorway to big miracles? Don't despise the small things! The small is very often the first sign of supernatural!!
