INTRO: Call up volunteer and ask him or her to unfold the rose without ruining it.
It is only a tiny rosebud, A flower of God’s design; But I cannot unfold the petals With these clumsy hands of mine. The secret of unfolding flowers Is not known to such as I. God opens this flower so sweetly, When in my hands they fade and die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud, This flower of God’s design,
Then how can I think I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in Him for His leading Each moment of every day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way. The pathway that lies before me, Only my heavenly Father knows.
I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.
Think of it, if I can’t unfold a rose (simple compared to my life) why would I ever trust myself when I’m trying to unravel something so important?
TS: This is why it is so important to find out God’s purpose for your life. So we’ve been going a series on discovering your dream (purpose, destiny).
-We’ve learned we are God’s workmanship (where we get our word poem).
-We’ve looked at some things that can hold you back (fear, failure, over-satisfaction).
-Last week we talked about giving it away. We are to give away love (an unlimited resource). We are to cast our bread upon the water for after many days we will find it again.
TITLE: Discovering Your Dream – Part 4 TEXT: 2 Kings 4:1-7
I. Opening thoughts. Have you ever run out of time? Have you ever run out of options? Have you ever run out of resources?
A. Here is a person who was experiencing these things. 1. List some of the difficulties.
-She had lost her husband. Back then he was the source of income, it wasn’t like today when women can go out and get a job.
-She had debts. These debts were so bad the creditors were on their way to take her two boys as slaves to pay the debt.
-This woman literally was at the place where she was losing everything. And to top it all off, this family knew the ways of God.
-In fact the man was from the company of prophets, a righteous man who helped proclaim the ways of God. Now she’s broke and destitute. The attitude that could have easily come to her is "How come God is not helping?"
2. The good news is that she came to the right place. -She came to seek God.
Today: If you’ve come to the end of your rope, your ability, your resources, open your heart and expect a miracle, believe that God is going to move on your behalf.
-Philippians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
TS: Important verse—verse 2.
II. "Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
A. This woman responded, "Your servant has nothing except a little oil."
1. We need to realize something—your dream always starts with what you have.
2. Excuses don’t make good foundations, really all they do is help keep you right where you’re at. -An excuse has been defined as the skin of reason stuffed with a lie.
-Excuses are only a waste of time and so is making a list of what you don’t have.
Today: Is your focus on what you don’t have or is your focus on what you believe God is going to do?
3. Everybody has something. Don’t believe the lie that you have nothing to offer.
-Everybody has something even if it’s an idea, a strong body for labor, or a seemingly minor skill.
B. Small things can do marvelous things.
1. Before Jesus fed the crowd of thousands he asked his disciples how much food they could round up. They found a pitifully small amount of fish and bread but it worked.2. When God commissioned Moses to lead the people out of Egypt Moses expressed doubt and asked,
"What if they don’t believe or listen to me?" God replied to Moses, "What is that in your hand?"
He was referring to Moses’ staff. God called attention to that small everyday object that Moses may never have considered. From that day on, Moses used that staff to perform many miracles.
3. I could talk about David, the young teenager who had only a few smooth stones and a sling against a giant. David was victorious.
4. I could talk about Gideon who lived in a small town and came from a small tribe that was least likely to lead. He took 300 men and conquered an army too numerous to count.
Point: Small insignificant things in the hand of God lead to great victories.
-Now the question is, what small insignificant thing are you overlooking that maybe God wants to use in your life?
5. Far too many people think they have to rely on outside money, outside talent, or outside manpower to reach their dreams.
-They think the resources for accomplishing their dreams are in other people’s hands. Not true.
Thought: Sit back and take inventory of your skills, talents and experiences—those small insignificant things that you may be overlooking.
C. What this woman thought was nothing was about to become everything.
1. She was told to collect empty jars, go inside, and begin to fill the jars with oil. She took action. -She began to act in faith.
2. Tommy Barnett writes: You do not get things from God because you’re a good Christian or because you love him so much or because of your sweet disposition—you get things because of faith. Prayer alone does not get things from God, neither does reading the Bible. Only faith gets things from God.
Mr. Barnett also says faith means believing God more than we believe our five senses. Having faith does not mean being free of doubt. In fact doubt is an essential part of faith. Think of it: if there were no doubt, there would be no faith. But faith means acting on the belief instead of on the doubt.
3. The problem that many Christians make is they want the power first. (God has got to do the miraculous first, then I’ll step out and do what he wants me to do.)
4. Any person who reaches their dream will tell you that it takes plenty of action to get there. -In Hebrews 11 we see that the men and women of great faith took action.
: Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice.
: Noah prepared an ark.
: Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going.
: Moses and the Israelites passed through the Red Sea.
: Others subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, and stopped the mouth of lions.
Point: They were people of action. Your dream is no good rattling around inside your head. It must become a tangible reality through the steps you’re directed to take
-Just like this woman who obeyed the word and did what she could.
5. This woman began to pour the oil into the empty jars, big and small, round and tall, painted and plain.
-Every kind of jar was being filled.
D. This woman’s ability to receive ended before God’s ability to provide.
1. Basically she could not take any more of God’s favor.
2. Question: Wouldn’t that be a nice place to be? (God just turn off the spigot, I can’t handle any more.)
-How many of us would like that type of blessing?
-Think of it, within a couple of days she went from apparent total destruction to a huge blessing.
Example. I was living in Twin Cities, going to school, working as a caretaker in a 70 unit complex, also working another job on top of this.
The owner of the complex was a pretty shady guy. He not only cheated the residents but also cheated the management. The reality was we were trapped. If I wanted to finish school I had to keep doing what I was doing. So I kept focused and just did my job and let the Lord take care of it. As everything was falling apart between the two owners, God opened a door into a 275 unit apartment where all I had to do was show apartments for free rent. I went from the dungeon to the palace in a couple of days and it was right before total destruction.
In Conclusion
Do you see the miraculous around you? Don’t overlook the small things. Stay away from excuses. If you’re on your last lap, expect a miracle. Believe God is going to come through for you. Step out in faith and be obedient to what he gives you.
