We are not a part of a lazy faith, and we do not serve a genie-God. Yet, sometimes when we are in a desperate place or in serious need, we expect God to come through and rescue us without us doing much of anything. When we are in a place of need, it’s hard to believe that God would actually request something of us, but we serve a motion-sensitive God! And action proves faith. What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. And we are called to live our entire lives by FAITH, NOT by sight. So when we take action, no matter how bad the situation is that we see in front of us, we are putting some substance and some evidence to what we believe God can do! 

When we move, He moves. 

2. When You’re In A Dry Place, Dig A Ditch!

So like we focused on last seed group, Elisha worshipped first, THEN the power of God came on him and He gave Elisha what to tell the Kings…..

In verse 16 Elisha said to the kings, “God’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for God to do.”

The three kings and their armies were in a desperate place, but God still asked something of them….to dig ditches. Hard work! But God wanted something to fill. He needed some space to hold the provision He was going to be providing. If there was no space created to contain the blessing He was going to bring, than the provision would not have been helpful to them at all! It would have been poured out, flooding the desert, and possibly harming them. Not beneficial at all. Have you ever seen someone get a blessing too soon? Or something that they did not have the capacity to carry in a sustainable way? God knows what He’s doing when he asks us to put some skin in the game. 

GOD WAS GOING TO POUR OUT THE RAIN, but HE NEEDED SOMETHING TO HOLD IT so that it would actually be effective…..He needed something to CONTAIN the provision that He was going to pour out. And the same goes for us in our lives! We have to make space to hold what God wants to pour out….whether it be provision, blessing, miracles, healing……..We have to create capacity. Capacity is the maximum amount that something can hold. Because  if God pours out blessings on you, and you don’t have the capacity to contain it, it’s going to be harmful, ineffective, and dangerous. Not helpful. God doesn’t want a washed-out disaster. 

He’s like “I see you’re in need, I have the solution, but do you have the capacity to contain it so that it’s actually effective for you and others?” 

And He’s not going to make the space for you! God’s not going to do what you can do for you.

I love the part where He says, “you’re not going to hear the wind, you’re not going to see the rain” —in other words—this isn’t going to happen by natural means. Some of us wait to see how it’s going to work out before we will pick up a shovel. But God says, nope. This isn’t going to come by natural means, so don’t even try to figure it out logically. It’s not going to be logical. It’s going to be supernatural. And if they would have waited until they understood or until it made sense to them, it would have been too late. We aren’t called to understand, we’re called to obey. So grab your shovel, and start digging!

-This is not a lazy faith that we are apart of…

-We serve a motion-sensitive God. When we move, He moves.

-You can’t create the wind, but you can set your sails up to catch it…..you can’t fill the ditch, but you can pick up a shovel and dig it.

–The longer you stay in the desert without digging a ditch = the longer you’re in the desert without being refreshed.

-Don’t wait until you figure out how it’s going to turn out; just start digging!

-Don’t pray for a move of God if you aren’t going to move.