Sunday, March 1, 2009

I Hear The Sound of Abundant Rain Coming

1Ki 18:41-45 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain
Samaria was suffering from a great famine and drought during the reign of King Ahab. God sends him the prophet, Elijah who tells him to "eat and drink." It would be like me telling you to enjoy your last few dollars at your favorite restaurant and then a movie with your family afterwards. You are not sure where your next provision is going to come from and the creditors are roaring like the lion in the den with Daniel.

Imagine that: Elijah tells Ahab to not worry, take time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the day that the Lord has made. The funny thing is that earlier, Ahab was working a second job to try and make ends meet. Actually he was trying to save what appeared to be the end of the day for him.
1Ki 18:5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

And what was his basis for giving this wild advice? Elijah said that he heard the sound of abundant rain coming. The only sound Ahab heard was the sound of despair and hopelessness. If you have been engulfing yourself in the blogs of these last five days, then you too should be saying:

"I HEAR THE SOUND OF ABUNDANT RAIN COMING!"

Something changed in the atmosphere. People changed. All week long I kept encouraging one girl, who fell away and has been in and out of the hospital for attempted suicides and is suffering from depression, to read the blogs. She finally did yesterday and this was her response to me:
"Wow Bobby , you were right on with this. Thank you for telling me to read this. I needed it very much so. With everything in my life right now I have wanted to give up. I see now that one day it all will be ok and I just need to hang on."
That's right, in the 11th hour, God came through for her. What started out with a "little" paragraph of encouragement the size of a "man's hand" last Tuesday, turned out to be a flood "God's hand" of unstoppable energy. People rose to the occasion and began proclaiming life over their destiny. Read the comments for yourself. It is contagious and out of control. We began speaking life all at once. We all began to meditate on God's Word and dig into the reservoirs of our hearts where scriptures have been hid. People were honest, broken and repentant and out came forth words of wisdom, hope and life.

So Elijah with a cool attitude tells Ahab to go and take it easy since it will soon rain and everything is going to be okay. Then Elijah starts praying and sends his servant to see if it has started to even drizzle. Six times the servant comes back with nothing. On the seventh time, his servant brings back some news that for some would be disturbing:
1Ki 18:44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
The word was "abundant rain" only to discover that there is a "little cloud" the size of a man's hand. Then Elijah with his consistent crazy faith tells his servant to get going before the abundant rain overtakes him. Did you get that? Elijah sounds like he is operating on fairy tale faith. So many times we don't want to speak things until they have happened for fear of embarrassment and ridicule. You have heard it before and I will say it again:
"You have got to be willing to do the ridiculous if you expect to get the miraculous"
Fear has gripped your heart because you are in the midst of a drought and a famine and there is no telling where your going to get the money to meet your needs.

You have worked your normal hours and now you are wanting to take on a second job. As a result, you won't take time to rest before the Lord, spend time in the Word, relax with your family or friends and sleep a full night. It may be because you are fretting and worrying about your financial deadlines or you are paralyzed beating your head against the wall accomplishing nothing.

The reason this is happening is because your actions, thoughts and words are governed by your beliefs. So if you choose to believe the report of the Lord, you will learn the power of waiting on the Lord and while you are waiting, spend your last few dollars on a great meal with the family. What else can you do with it? Save it for the tomorrow's bills even though it is not enough? You need a miracle and what you have in your hand will not meet the need so live it up. Act as if everything is going to work together for the good. After all, God is faithful and he is going to come through for you and your loved ones.

So you keep checking the account to see if your miracle has come through. You eagerly answer the phone time and again waiting for that miracle call. You just keep waiting and all you get after all of that is a little cloud the size of your hand. Will you walk away and speak negative or will you say, "hurry let's get our biggest buckets out because it is going to rain abundance?"
1Ki 18:45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a GREAT RAIN
Faith is acting on things that you can't see just yet. It is the thing that drives you to your destination.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Do you hear the sound of thunder? I do and it's coming down on you. God's thunderous power is about to bust apart the black cloud of poverty, lack, bondage, ignorance, fear, doubt, hurt and shame! Then the rain will come down in abundance and overflowing.