When Trusting God is a Handful - Pastor Stan Harvey

can we can see you uh watching and are joining with us together so you're welcome to do that if you have your bibles with you let's turn to first kings chapter 17 verse 8 to 6. first kings chapter 17 verse 8 to 6 and the word of the lord came unto him saying arise get thee to zarephath this is god speaking to elijah which belongs to zidon and dwell there and behold i have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee so he arose and he went to zarephath and when he came to the gate of the city behold the widow woman was there gathering of sticks and he called to her and said fetch me i pray thee a little water in a vessel that i may drink and as she was going to fetch it he called to her and said bring me i pray thee a morsel of bread in thine hand and she said as the lord thy god liveth i have not a cake but a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruise and behold i am gathering two sticks that i may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die you see there was such a harsh famine in the land there had been no rain no water that uh people were starving literally to death and so she was going to eat this last handful of meal and that she was going to eat it and then eventually her and her son would die in verse 13 elijah said unto her fear not go and do as thou has said but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me and after make for you and your son for thus save the lord god of israel the barrel of meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the lord sends rain upon the earth what a promise and she went and did according to the saying of elijah and she and her he and her house did eat many days our final verse verse 16 and the barrel of meal wasted not neither did the cruse of oil fail according to the word of the lord which he spake by elijah i want to talk to you today on this thong when trusting god is a handful when trusting god is a handful would you pray with me together let's ask the lord to bless us to speak to us once again father you are a faithful god you are as near to us as the very air we breathe lord you are within us god is your holy spirit as a river of living water flows from our innermost being and so once again today we pray that we would remove all distractions from our hearts and minds and help us to tune in to the voice of the spirit of god that is speaking to us anoint your servant anoint the people of god all throughout wherever we are in our homes watching and connecting together with the service lord let the spirit of god have its way and work in our lives bless heal strengthen encourage help us with god to remove all frustrations and and all kinds of angst and fear and anger and lord god help us to have patience and trust in your word so bless us now we pray bless all those who would give use it for the furtherance of the gospel in jesus name amen amen praise god god bless you also want to to let you know that um the funeral for sister arietta narawa will be this wednesday of course we are not uh allowed majority of the people are only about 10 are allowed to attend the funeral but we will be live streaming it so the link again will be on our pos family page for those that want to join it's i think about 11 30 on on wednesday amen this was a time when in the text that we read and and the more i read uh situations in the old testament of famines of of great restrictions the more i realize uh that the situation we find ourselves in in the world with this pandemic with lockdowns it's really not too dissimilar what to what the people of god had experienced only that what they experienced was much much worse uh they didn't have internet to keep them occupied they did not have uh the situations like we do where we can stay home and enjoy the luxuries and the comforts of home in this story of we read of elijah there was a great famine in the land because of the idolatry of ahab the king there was no rain and no food and in the preceding verses that we read we we read of of how god commanded the prophet elijah to go to the brook carreth or cherith and and he commands him to stay there it's it's he gives him a restriction it's like a lockdown he stays there by the brook where he he has sustained the the the river the brook the water and the brook would be to his sustenance and then god sends a raven an unclean animal by which to bring elijah food of his breakfast and dinner every single day you you talk about an uber eats you talk about a menu log that it's you know this dirty bird that comes and brings i don't know if he had like a plastic bag in its mouth and it had it all wrapped up like you know like a a an asian takeaway or something like that but he was sustained by a dirty bird delivering food at his doorstep every day a bit like a bit like ubereat and his thirst was quenched by the brook and then it's we get to the the portion of first kings chapter 17 where god tells him uh he tells him to leave and and it tells us that the the brook would dry it was dried out and so he's got to go he can't stay there and i want to simply say today that there are times in our lives that god will give us just enough of what we need to survive and that there are times even in our walk with god that we are not always in abundance but there are times where we would go through lean seasons and this is a season that we're finding ourselves in living in a period of history this is a history making event that has shaken the whole world amen and but it's not even that bad as much as it has been an irritation and an annoyance to me personally that we can't gather in the church and we don't have the freedom and the mobility that we normally enjoy yet if you look at some of the things that have happened in our history this is really quite mild even in comparison to the the other flu 100 years ago the spanish flu where over 50 million were killed and there was not as much information that was possible and this flu was was taking the lives of everybody young and old and of course even within the last hundred years of our history there's been two massive world wars that that had decimated the population of the world and so what we are experiencing as much as it is irritating yet it is nonetheless uh it is mild in comparison to what what is going on and and what we've seen in the world and including what's happening in the bible but i want you to know the times that there will be lean seasons there will be times where where god has you in a place where he doesn't always want you to stay there but sometimes the water will run out sometimes the brook will dry up and and it's only because god has another station for us to go he's got another level for us to go to amen and so wherever you find yourself in whatever circumstance in life when things are not turning out and and things begin to get uncomfortable it could be that god is calling us to the next level of our walk with god he's calling us to elevate our faith he's calling us like our theme for this year of i faith he wants us to go to that next phase of our walk with god amen and so he tells him okay that's uh you've been fed enough there it's time for you to go to elsewhere and so he heads to the place of a widow woman when the after the brook had had all but dried up he goes to a place called zarephath and it's a place in zidane in an area called zidane called zaraphath and the word zaraphath means refinement the word kerith or cherith means to cut amen and so he went from a place of cutting a place where he was being fed by a bird to now he's going to a place of refinement sometimes in the our walk with god he takes us sometimes from a hard place to a harder place amen uh we sometimes we think it couldn't get any worse i thought it couldn't get any worse than last year and then here we go in 2021 it's even worse we go from a place of cutting to refinement amen he goes from a place of of difficulty where at least he has his own space to now he's got to go to a woman a widow woman who is about to die because there's no food and so uh he calls to her and he tells her to go out and and to to give her some give him some drink and she will she's about to go he stops her hold on don't just get me a drink i need something to eat he's gotten used to being fed and and having drink and then all she had was this handful of meal that's all she had and she tells them listen uh you know i don't i don't have a cake i've just got a handful of meal in verse number 12 in a barrel and just a tiny little bit of oil i'm gonna make this as our last and final meal for my son and i and we are going to die and then he says this remarkable thing he says okay well uh go ahead make what you're doing but make me something first she's like you know i guess we're kind of reading between the lines here but but she would have just i would have thought well i just told you this is my last meal this is all i have left and you want me to to make a little cake for you she was in the midst of one of the most severe famines that they had ever experienced in that land and now she was getting ready to die and elijah wanted her to make him a little cake elijah was asking from her to take from her from her hands her final meal this was uh would have been such a difficult thing if you if you try to imagine if you try to put yourself in the in the shoes of this widow woman and how how you would have reacted like you know this is this is it we're gonna die can i even die in peace can can i just even have some dignity and enjoy our last and final meal but now here comes the prophet the man of god the representative of god asking me to give to him the handful that she had left represented all that she had and and let me just say here today that the sometimes we have a tendency to trust god when uh when we've got an abundance there's a tendency to that we don't mind helping and giving out of the abundance that we have that it's okay to give to a need because we've got so much left over because we are just overflowing with affluence and and with so much of the material blessings that we're enjoying but the question is are we willing to trust and are we willing to give when we don't even have enough for ourselves when it seems like all we have the little bit that we have that god is asking for are we willing to trust god to give him what little that we have what we have left and put it into the hands of god for to give to his cause and to his purpose i want you to know today that god knows whatever needs we have he understands the situation and the circumstances that we have and it seems almost fruitless it seems almost unreasonable that we should be giving the last bit that we have that we should be putting it into the hands of god but can i tell you here brothers and sisters ladies and gentlemen that whatever it is that you have if you continue to put god first if you continue to prioritize the lord and say he is at number one that even in the midst of our lockdown even in the midst of our restrictions yet it seems fruitless it seems unreasonable that we ought to continue to worship we ought to continue to praise we ought to continue to wake up in the morning like we always do and pray because we are stuck where we are no can i tell you that's exactly what we need to do in the circumstances that we are in when you don't know what to do you do what you know to do when you don't know what else to do in your life you do what you know to do and that is to continue to seek the lord that is continue to put him first and prioritize because the words of jesus christ continues to ring true that if you seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness all of these things will be added unto you oh bless the name of the lord praise god if we continue to prioritize even if it seems like it's futile even if it seems like what's the point we can't even go to church at the moment we can't even see each other and you know we're stuck at home let me remind you that while we are resting yes we're making the most of our time our downtime our lockdown we are going to make the most of our time at home and finding some rest and finding some recovery we ought to do what we can but don't forget to put god first always don't forget to prioritize the lord like you got to continue to maintain your devotions you've got to continue to maintain your prayer life you you got to get the family together get the children together once once a day even just for half an hour once a day and say we're going to read the bible together we're going to pray together we're going to invite the presence of the lord we can utilize this time said what else do we have but to put it in the hands of god praise the lord and so sometimes trusting god means giving to him what you have left oh i've only got 50 left and god i've got i got to keep that to myself listen to me if you put god to the test trust in him i've heard so many times people telling me well i i can't give them my tithes because you know it's the last money that i have and god understands he owes it all and i can understand that logic i can understand that that that kind of thinking absolutely but what i'm saying to you today is that if you trust in god if you have the faith to believe in god that whatever it is that you think you might be lacking if you continue to follow his word if you continue to obey the man of god obey the word of god and say well god i'm gonna keep trusting in you i'm going to put my final money whatever it is it is you ought to put give your first to god anyway but if you continue to bring your tithes i promise you god said put me to the test he said try me now and see if i will not open to you the windows of heaven and pour out blessings you can't even contain let me remind you that god will be no man's debtor he will not see his children begging bread that if you are willing and it doesn't make any sense but say god i'm giving to you my whatever i have left it's only just a handful but i'm giving it to you i'm telling you you will see the promise and the power and the blessings of god being poured out in your life put him to the test he said put him on the line come on put him they say i'm gonna i'm gonna trust your word and see what you will do and i'm telling you in the almost 30 years i've been walking with god he's never forsaken the righteous he's always met every need not just for me but for all my brothers and sisters that are part of this assembly that's why i'm not discouraged i'm not disheartened with what's going on in our world because god knows what he's doing he's got it all in his plan and his time clock and so we can learn to rejoice in whatever we have left oh you can put it in his hands you see this all throughout scripture you see this remember the story of of the when when god when jesus was feeding the 5 000 and and they called for they found a boy that had two loaves and a few fish and five loaves and two fishes and that's all that they had yet because jesus always asked for what they had even no matter how little it was wanted to see their attitude and their spirit whether they were willing to give and distribute the little that they have whatever it is that you have no matter how little it is maybe it's just a testimony maybe all you have is a is an online a facebook ministry that you can share this live stream or you can share scriptures but put it out there and see what god will do praise god and god can multiply and do something with it amen when you don't know what to do do what you know to do what is it that we have we have the ability to pray and could it be that in the midst of this lockdown that more than any other time god is calling this church to pray i'm putting the challenge out there to you brothers and sisters the while we are we are stuck at home this is a time that we can get on our knees and begin to knock on heaven's door while we are there we can we can call upon heaven we can ask the lord to bring a revival such as never seen before we can let's build up our prayers as it were i wonder what would happen if we began to pray earnestly and fast and lifted up our voices unto heaven and bring an accumulation you know i believe it's like a like a dam that a dam that holds water that the more water builds up the more pressure it builds up until when there's so much water it either overflows or it breaks the dam i want to challenge you that are listening today the church of the living god let's bring our prayers before god let's ask for a revival let's ask for god to do a work right now in the hearts of people that in a few weeks time when we come together there's going to be a mighty revival that sydney has never seen the people are going to message you they're going to call you and say what can you share to me about what it is that you believe that they're going to be asking you for a bible study they're going to be asking you the directions to the church i'm telling you we can pray and ask god we can build such a pressure in heaven as it were for god to pour out a revival such as we have never seen before come on folks there's got to be something to be redeemed from what we're experiencing in the world this is not happening for no reason at all but there is purpose behind every circumstance there's a reason there's something to be redeemed with what we are going through and but for with all that's happening i believe god can use it for his glory to reach this lost world oh praise the name of the lord i have reserved making comments about anything that's going on politically with our situation because even in this church alone there are various views and about this the vaccine and so on but but i want to tell you that that god god knows what he's doing i i believe god's going to use this to remind us i believe it there there is it is a a foreshadowing of things to come in the future whether he talks about it in the end times in prophecy of of what will happen in the world i believe the world's going to be more chaotic but as the world gets more chaotic as the world gets more confused there will be a voice there will be a light shining in the darkness and the chaos of this world and that is none other than the church of the living god out of everyone in this world we stand on solid ground the bible says we are in a kingdom that cannot be shaken we are standing on a firm foundation that with what's happening in the world right now there's a shaking going on there's a sifting there's a whole lot of shaking going on there's a sifting going on and when all the sifting is done the church will be standing victorious the church will be standing with truth and light and i'm telling you it's going to be our hour it's going to be our moment when we come out of the shadows and people will see that the truth of god's word it will stand forever oh praise the name of the lord and if you're listening to this and you are not born again you're you are not sure about your eternity let me tell you you can be born again it doesn't matter who you are if you are willing to come and repent and turn your from your sins and believe in god and be baptized in jesus name and be filled with his holy spirit being born again of water and the spirit telling you you can be saved and be a part of this kingdom that cannot be shaken praise god and so this this widow woman preparing to make her final meal because this famine that was so severe that was so harsh there was no food there was nothing to eat that they were getting ready to die but she obeyed even with what she little she had she took elijah at his word he promised that if you if you do this the barrel will not what will not fail the the crews of oil will not would not be emptied but you're going to continue to experience god's provision amen let me remind you today that sometimes trusting god is a handful that means it's going to require for you and i to work to trust god not only was she willing to give what she had but she had to work it she had to make the cake that elijah was was asking for sometimes trusting god requires work it requires us to do something it will require us requires us to give the very best that we have to expend energy to pray it's not just going to happen revival is not just going to happen people are not just going to come always sometimes we've got to go out to them sometimes we've got to reach out to folks sometimes we've got to work whatever god has called us to do remember a with the children of israel and their armies the three armies along with with the other armies that were fighting against the moab and and they were walking for three days around the wilderness they didn't have anything to drink they run out of a water that the whole three three massive armies were going to be reduced to corpses in the wilderness simply because they did not have this one simple element called water they were about to die and so they called upon the man of god the prophet told them to dig ditches dig the valley where they were full of ditches now remember that by this time the soldiers would have been tired after three days of marching in the desert in the desert sun de-hided such such dry such dry conditions and the third day they were they had to dig this should have been the last thing that they were doing because digging ditches they were already tired they were already worn out but but they they obeyed and the next day the bible tells us every every ditch that was dug was filled with water god provided for his children he provided for them and they they were stuck they could have just easily had given up they were tired but they just did the work they did the work that was required and as a result of what they could do god provided for them can i tell you if you do what you can do do it maybe all you can do is pray but get on your knees and get a hold of god maybe all you can do is contact somebody call someone encourage them maybe all that you could do is is work as best you can do whatever you can even from your home but listen to me when you do what you can do god will do the rest he will provide for our every need he will make sure that we are we are covered that we have every we are sustained we have every need that we have such as the goodness of god but he does it in partnership with us he won't do it just by himself he said no you got to do it you notice how he does that in the bible he always asks what they have in their hands he always asks what do you have how many loaves you have what have you got in your hand moses it's just a stick and and the rod of moses probably it represented his his identity represented his his occupation that was all that he had and god said lay it down on the ground and when he was willing to lay down what what was most prized to him god did something supernatural with that thing he always looks for what we have and sometimes trusting in god means giving what we have it means working what what with what we have doing all we can to work i am convinced that god can prosper us in the time of famine and the time of this lockdown i believe with all of my heart that god can use it to bless us to use it for his glory to use it for his purpose he can prosper us remember the story of of uh isaac when the bible says there was a famine in the land a similar circumstance well instead of uh having nothing and doing nothing because there was a famine you know what isaac did he continued to sow in the land and god gave him a hundred fold a hundred times in the same year the bible says yes the same year of famine when when everybody else was hungry when everybody else was was starving and they were had nothing yet because he sowed he didn't wait he he didn't quit he didn't complain because there was a famine in the land he says oh there's a famine i'm gonna sow that's what i know to do i don't know how to change the famine that's beyond my control that's not for me to deal with that's that's god's problem what i know to do is to sow in the land and when he sowed he had a hundred fold more he got more than what he had he had more sheep more cattle god gave to him i promise you this is maybe a time where we want to maybe drift off from church and i understand the temptation you know i understand we're not seeing each other and we're not we're not compelled to wake up in the morning and put our sunday best on and and somehow we you know we just got into a bad routine but let me tell you if you keep doing what you know to do keep praying keep putting god as priority in your life i'm telling you we we when we are every time the people of god were locked down they prayed daniel let him see when he was for three weeks he just prayed and fasted before the answer came paul and silas locked up in the dungeon what did they do they began to pray and sing praises unto god until god did something maybe god is using this time for us to make our homes a sanctuary an altar where the prayers can can go up before god if we started to seek god together with such fervency and desire i'm telling you god can do something powerful oh i look forward to the day then we're together again and we are trying to make the most of this time to rest to eat don't do that too much make sure you incorporate some fasting in there but also a time where we can seek the lord together that's all she had but because she gave it to the man of god she gave him what was hers but her final thing yet that barrel a flower never never failed that cruise would never run empty she just kept making every day more food and more food and more food if you put god to the test he'll never run out he is the source he'll never run out of giving you joy he'll never run out of things to to bless you with but you got to continue to give you got to continue to pour out as i come to a close the bible tells us as that story goes on that the woman's son died he had a a problem in his situation yet the man of god was there to bring this boy back to life whatever whatever it is that has died whatever circumstance you find yourself in if you trust in god which sometimes is hard sometimes it means giving what you have sometimes it means working through the situation that you're in working hard sweating it out doing what you need to do when the time comes whatever has died god can bring it back to life he can breathe new new joy he can breathe fresh maybe maybe you've kind of just drifted away in these last few weeks from god maybe you've kind of become a little dry cold i want to encourage you if there's if there's just a little bit of desire left if there's just a little inkling of a desire for god bring that before the lord and see that god will continue to give and pour out continue to worship god continue to make your your devotion your commitment to connect with god every day continue to give give for the work of god give for a cause of god give to those in need reach out to somebody do what you can become a person because become a man and a woman of prayer that we will trust god for whatever circumstance whatever we have left trusting god yes it's a handful yes it's going to make you inconvenient uncomfortable make you sweat oh but it'll be worth it all you'll find the joy will never cease so why don't we pray right now wherever you are lift up your voice in the name of jesus i pray if you are with your family why don't you link hands together or pray for one another but i want to ask you for these next few minutes to make this as a time of of your prayer of your altar before god and say god here i am here's my meal i've only got a little bit left maybe there's only a little bit of desire left oh but i'm going to give it to you as you have commanded as you've spoken to us through this message father in the name of jesus but god sometimes we are discouraged with what little we have when we look well lord god i pray that what what little that's left that we continue to put it in your hands use it to your glory use it to lay upon the altar of sacrifice and say god we're trusting you with the what we have left we're trusting you with what what is left of us and we're going to give it to you lord we're going to do what whatever you called us to do we're going to obey you we're going to meet your needs first we're going to do what you've called we're going to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness and lord we're gonna trust you that all as you have promised all of these things will be added unto us we're gonna trust your promises your word will never fail your word has never faltered heaven and earth will pass away but your word shall abide forever and we're going to build our lives upon your promises that it will come to pass oh precious lord father restore our joy restore our desire for you let us become women and men of prayer let us seek after you let us let us enter into the realm of prayer of supplication of intercession but god getting deeper and i walk with you let us set time aside of fasting let us meditate upon your word let us do whatever we can to reach out to our brothers and sisters with a word of encouragement to share your truth father right now in the name of jesus hallelujah as the musicians and singers lead us i wonder if you could just pray worship the lord together with us and continue to give god your heart your spirit and lift up your voice this is our time of giving our heart to the lord of giving ourselves to jesus [Music] amen [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music]

Channel: POSydney

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Keywords: sermon, Sydney, pentecostal, POS, Australia, worship

Id: -eVvvUdah84

Length: 37min 10sec (2230 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 17 2021