A Great Big God
I Kings 17:8-16
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there¡¦s nothing my God cannot do! Those are the words to a children¡¦s song but words that you and I should pay heed to. Let me ask you a question this morning ¡V How big is God? Have you ever given that any thought? One little boy did ¡V He was sitting at the table drawing one day ¡V His father came over and asked him ¡§Son what are you drawing? I¡¦m drawing a picture of God he responded. Well you can¡¦t draw God his father replied ¡V no one knows what God looks like. ¡§They will in a minute the boy said with a grin. How big is God?
We pick up the story this morning in I Kings 17:8-16 ¡V A famine has struck the land. A three year drought is on the land as a result of the peoples idolatry. For some time Elijah has been hanging out near the brook of Cherith being provided for by God. But because of the lack of rain the brook dries up and Elijah is called to move on. We pick up the story there as Elijah a man with a great big God meets with a widow in Zarephath who¡¦s God is about to get much bigger.
Read 17:8-16
1) When our God is Too Small ¡V AW Tozer wrote this ¡§I am positively sure after many years of observation and prayer that the basis of all of our trouble today, in religious circles, is that our God is too small.¡¨ The truth is that for most of us our God is really too small. Now understand that I don¡¦t mean that God is actually small ¡V what I mean is that we see Him as too small. Kind of like looking through the wrong end of the binoculars. Realize with me this morning that God is who God is ¡V nothing you or I can do will ever change Him. ¡§For I the Lord do not change¡¨ He says to us. The problem is that we see Him too small ¡V we don¡¦t really understand His greatness and power to help us. Here are a few things that happen when our God is too small.
„« We live in Fear and Anxiety ¡V Worry dominates the life who¡¦s God is too small. Because if your God is small ¡V then really it all depends on you. How bright you are, how good you are, how pretty you are, how effective you are, how strong you are. If your God is small then you have to take care of you. All over the world people are serving small gods ¡V they have to feed their gods, take care of their gods, and even defend their gods. Always worry, anxiety, and fear dominate the life of those whose God is too small. Our God says ¡§Be Still and Know that I am God.
„« We are defensive ¡V When our God is too small we are defensive ¡V feeling that any attack might overwhelm our logic. Any question, any doubt might break what I believe into tatters. The truth is that many if not most Christians today live in a Christian bubble that they are always fearful will shatter to pieces around them. That is the reason often that people do not witness to people of other faiths ¡V they are simply scared that they won¡¦t have all the answers and their God is not big enough to deal with unanswered questions.
„« We are stingy ¡V We cannot give generously if we believe that our financial security and our well being depends on us. We cannot give if we do not have an assurance of God¡¦s provision for us. That is the reason most people don¡¦t tithe. I wont have enough for me. The truth is that if you don¡¦t tithe there will never be enough for you.
„« We are demanding. We have to have it our own way ¡V You see if our God is too small we cannot see and appreciate that in Christ there is great diversity. Uniformity is the demand ¡V I know what I like and I like what I know. I am convinced that the majority of our arguments over worship style stem from this very place. Our God isn¡¦t big enough. We feel that there is only one way to approach Him that is valid ¡V Our way. Some hymns other Choruses. The truth is that I don¡¦t think God cares whether you are singing hymns or choruses as long as you are worshipping Him in the prosess. Sometimes our God gets small and we worship the method instead of God.
2) So the question this morning is ¡V How Big is God? For the answer to that question ¡V turn to Job chapter 38 ¡V I want to let the scripture do the talking on this point. The truth is folks that God is bigger than you can imagine and small enough to fit it all in your heart. He is big enough to answer your every need and small enough to hear your whispered prayer. He is big enough to encompass the universe in a thought ¡V and small enough to number the hairs on your head. How big is God? Paul said ¡§I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.¡¨ Friend He is bigger that you ever need Him to be.
3) Learning How Big God is ¡V lets look together at this passage again and see what we can learn about expanding our vision of God. This woman starts the day fearful, vulnerable, and despairing ¡V¡§that we may eat and die.¡¨ But learns how big God really is.
„« Change your focus ¡V Notice what Elijah tells the woman to do ¡V make a small cake for me first ¡V then make one for you and your son. If you want to learn how big God is ¡V begin to focus on others. We have become an egocentric society ¡V looking out for number 1. The truth is that an inwardly focused life never understands how big God is. The life, the church, the vision that only see¡¦s it¡¦s own needs ¡V doesn¡¦t understand and cannot understand how big God really is. God has a vision for all His people ¡V He is not limited by denomination, race, or methodology ¡V He is only limited by us. God¡¦s vision for you is not that you simply survive it¡¦s that you thrive and become a part of His plan. No matter how little you are or how little you have ¡V God is big enough to make you a part of that plan. But it start when you begin as the Apostle Paul says to ¡§see others as more important than yourself.¡¨
„« Step out in faith ¡V confront you fears. What do you think was the greatest fear in this womans life? Starving to death. What does Elijah ask her? Share your food. But he asks this with a promise ¡V if you step out in faith God will reward you. If you step out and confront your fear I will provide what you think I can¡¦t provide. Fear is the reason people don¡¦t try new things, fear is the reason people don¡¦t tithe, fear is the reason people don¡¦t witness, fear is the reason that people don¡¦t work. Fear of failure, fear of the future, fear that we won¡¦t have enough ¡V fear is the faith killer. If you want to see how big God really is ¡V step out in faith and confront your fear ¡V it is there that you will find the greatness of God. Peter had to do it when he walked on water ¡V ¡§come on¡¨ Jesus said ¡V get out of the boat. Come on God said to this widow ¡§make me some food¡¨ ¡V if they had given in to fear they would never have experienced how big God really is.
„« Rest in the Day to Day ¡V the truth is that most of us don¡¦t really want to walk by faith. We want to walk by sight. If I have it ¡V I¡¦ll give it. If I have time ¡V I¡¦ll invest it. One of the most wonderful things about this story is it¡¦s continuance. Notice that this woman is not given an abundance ¡V her jar simply does not run out. Imagine the experience of using the last cup of oil ¡V only to find at the next meal ¡V another cup of oil in the jar. Never a gallon ¡V never even a quart ¡V just enough. Sometimes faith is like that ¡V asking us just simply to trust that what we don¡¦t see will happen. Now don¡¦t tell me you can¡¦t do this ¡V you do it everyday. Everytime you turn on a light switch ¡V you just assume that the light will come on. You never ask yourself ¡V I wonder if it will happen ¡V you just do. Electricity and lightbulbs fail often yet you trust them. God never fails ¡V why don¡¦t you trust Him? Realize that God does not ask you to serve from your abundance, share from your surplus, or give from your leftovers. He says we are to live lives of service, sharing, and giving and trust Him to be Jehovah Jireh ¡V the God who provides.
