When We Step Out God Steps InSample

The promise of God is the foundation of faith

Faith is based on the promise of God. We can’t just turn things on willy-nilly. Faith must have a foundation—the will, the purpose, and the promise of God. Elisha said, ‘This is what the Lord says. About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria’ (7:1-2).

In roughly equivalent contemporary terms, seven litres (two gallons) of flour and fifteen litres (four gallons) of barley would each be sold for around a dollar. People were currently paying five dollars for a handful of dove’s droppings. That was the word of the Lord; that was the promise.

The king’s right-hand man said to the prophet, ‘Look, even if the Lord should open the windows of heaven, could this happen?’ (7:2).

‘You will see it with your own eyes,’ answered Elisha, ‘but you will not eat any of it.’ Elisha believed God’s promise; the officer did not. We have that choice: whether to believe or whether to disbelieve. What are we going to do with the word of God? Are we going to take it seriously? Or are we going to say, ‘No, I can’t believe that. It is impossible.’ Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of the Lord.’ Will we do that?

The officer objected, ‘Even if the Lord should open the windows of heaven, such a thing would not be possible.’ Well, God has opened the windows of heaven many times. Most significantly, he did it when he sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins.

When Jesus came, he brought with him the hope of eternal joy, victory, peace, and blessing. The windows of heaven have been opened. Jesus has come, and victory is ours.

When I was a teenager, we sang a song about this: The windows of heaven are opened, the blessings are falling tonight… I gave him my old, tattered garment; he gave me a robe of pure white.

As we shall see, these lepers dressed in rags came home clothed in rich garments. Dirty clothes in Scripture symbolize sin and white robes of righteousness (Zechariah 3:4; Revelation 7:14; 19:8). Jesus came to get rid of the sin, the filth, and the ugliness and to make us beautiful or handsome as the case may be. The sin is gone, the darkness is gone, the fear is gone, the evil is gone, and the corruption is gone. All that is dealt with because the floodgates of heaven have been opened, and Jesus has come into our lives to set us free and to make us new people.

What next?

There is a promise to meet every basic human need. God’s promises are unfailing (1 Kings 8:56); they are all ‘yes and amen’ in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). If you or a loved one are facing a particular need right now, which biblical promise can you apply to it? Be specific.