What do you have in your house?

Your blessings may be sitting right there in your home. That thing you need to move to the next level may be right within your reach but waiting to be discovered. There are many things within us or in our surrounding that can be the source of our enlargement. There may be something in your house that is the key to your breakthrough. Let’s see some of these and how we can use what we have to enlarge our ourselves.

Physical strength
You need physical strength in order to do some things but that doesn’t mean your stength will cause an increase. Infact the dependence on your pysical strength alone could be a disadvantage. I heard a story once of two people sent to do chop down trees in a day, a young man and an old man. The old man was more experienced than the young man. The young man believing he had more strength thought, ‘I can scale through this, look at this old man’. The old man got to work the way he knew. At the end of the day he had chopped down more than the young man.
The young man was shocked and asked, ‘how did you do it, did you cheat’? The old man replied ‘ I worked for an hour and took 10 minutes break every hour. I did that for 2 reasons: to rest and to sharpen my axe’. I was working with sharpened axe all through whilst you worked with a dull axe. (Source: Word for Today Nov. 15)

We can learn two lessons from the story above:
1. Take time for rest and renewal
2. Stay sharp, dull axe requires more effort.
Our strength alone can fail us. The Creator also rested after creating the universe. During the time of rest, find time to review, meditate and appraise yourself. Jesus also advised hie disciples to take time out for rest, Mark 6:31. Do not feel guilty for taking a rest, nature demands it.

Mental strength
Intellectual ability is another source but that alone cannot produce success. There has to be a combination of factors to get maximum results. However the way we think can greatly affect our success rate. ‘As a man thinketh’ is a very powerful statement in life’s journey and a lot has been written and discussed about that. You can become anything you want to be. It starts first in your thoughts and your Creator also mentioned that ‘Whatever man imagines, he can do’.

I am drawn to another story in the Book about a widow who was experiencing a time of dryness. A prophet is instructed to visit the widow and that she would be the source of provision for the prophet as he too had a need. Why would God instruct a prophet to visit and be fed by a widow. ‘I have directed a widow there to supply you with food’. 1Kg 17. Today this would be called ‘widow abuse’. The prophet did not ask the woman to give him everything, he asked the woman to ‘Don’t be afraid, prepare a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and oil you have and bring it to me first, then make something for your son and yourself’,

She obeyed and did as the man said although she’d previously confessed that  ‘she was going home to prepare a meal for herself and her son’ before they both die due to famine. Miraculously, from that day she never lacked because the flour and oil never dried up.                           image: www.freeimages.co.uk

What are the lessons we can learn from this:

• Elijah did not rationalise and say ‘how can I go to a woman, a widow and a gentile’?
• The woman did not doubt him though she had a need and her resources may have lasted another two meals. She did not argue.
• Her obedience cause her to be blessed and increased her resources.
• Previous to this, Elijah’s other source (brook) had dried up. One door shuts and another opens provided we are able to hear the next  instruction.
• Elijah was not sent to the rich in the land.
• They both had what they needed for the duration of the famine.
• Never put your Creator in a box, predicting how He will meet your needs.

The source of our success or breakthrough can arise from variety of things including physical things that we possess. Our willingness to stretch out to help others can greatly enhance our exisitence whilst being a blessing to others. All we need is the ability to listen and be obedient to directions. If the lady did not  got to the well,, she would not have met Elijah. Who are you destined to meet?