Is God concerned with even reviving physical things in our lives?
1) Revival of a Bad Meal
Does God care enough that His faithful servants eat well, to revive an unacceptable meal?
A convention of the prophets met with Elisha. Stew was requested for their meal. Was it wise to collect unknown plants? Poisoned or simply tasting horrible, the stew was inedible. And yet in faith, Elisha added flour to heal the so-called pot of death. Revived, the pot no longer contained anything harmful or distasteful (2 Kings 4).
Rejoice, lovers of God, have faith in the One who can revive even a ruined meal.
2) Revival of a Small Portion
Does God care that His prophets have enough to eat, by reviving even a meager supply?
The generous hospitality of God’s servants is a mark of their spirituality. Bread made from barley into small loaves was a poor man’s food, and may be a simple meal, but it was a spiritual feast because the assembled prophets were being taught by Elisha. Multiplied, just like feeding the 5,000, the seemingly insufficient meal was revived, satisfying everyone and they “had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 4 NIV).
Rejoice, lovers of God, have faith that the Lord can revive all our insufficiencies.
3) Naaman’s Revival
Does God sometimes ask us to do strange things in a revival just to test our faith?
Naaman was a foreign army commander with a crippling bacterial skin infection. Was there a cure in Israel as he had been told? Healed of his leprosy, he would know that there is a God in Israel. Of all the strange ways to be healed, Elisha told Naaman to wash himself in the Jordan River seven times which at first made him angry, but he eventually did so. Leprosy cured, Naaman promised to never again worship false gods and offered Elisha gifts, which he refused. (2 Kings 5).
Rejoice, lovers of God, revival can accompany the strangest of physical requirements, but the most important thing is a change of heart from trusting the world’s idols to trusting God.
4) Revival of Lost Things
Is God concerned with lost things as much as lost sheep?
Imagine a God who loves us so much that He will help us retrieve a lost item. God did exactly that with a borrowed tool that one of the prophets had used. Saving an axe in a river may seem like a mundane miracle. Something like this shows how God cares for us. Lost and found is a picture of salvation, as we all like lost sheep have gone astray (2 Kings 6; Psalm 119:176; Isaiah 53:6; Matthew 9:36; 1 Peter 2:25).
Rejoice, lovers of God, if we have family members who are lost, God can revive their faith and bring them home.
We can pray for revival even of seemingly trivial things, because God cares and can restore our health and our physical things.
