An Easy Thing in the Eyes of the LORD...

"You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; He will also hand Moab over to you."  II Kings 3:17-18

To human reason, what God was promising seemed simply impossible, but nothing is too difficult for Him. Without any sound or sign and from sources invisible and seemingly impossible, the water flowed the entire night, and "the next morning...there it was...! And the land was filled with water...The sun was shining on the water...and it looked red-like blood" (v.20,22).

Our unbelief is always desiring some outward signs, and the faith of many people is largely based on sensationalism. They are not convinced of the genuineness of God's promises without some visible manifestation. But the greatest triumph of a person's faith is to "be still, and know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10).

The greatest victory of faith is to stand at the shore of the impassable Red Sea and to hear the Master say, "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today" (Exodus 14:13). As we step out in faith, without any sign or sound, taking our first steps into the water, we will see the water divide. Continuing to march ahead, we will see a pathway open through the very midst of the sea. 

Whenever I have seen God's wondrous work in the case of some miraculous healing or some extraordinary deliverance by His providence, the thing that has always impressed me most was the absolute quietness in which it was done. I have also been impressed by the absence of anything sensational and dramatic, and the utter sense of my own uselessness as I stood in the presence of the Almighty God, realizing how easy all of this was for Him to do without even the faintest of effort on His part, or the slightest help from me. 

It is the role of faith not the question but to simply obey. In the above story from Scriptures, the people were asked to "make this valley full of ditches" (II Kings 3:16). The people obeyed, and then water came pouring in from some supernatural source to fill them. What a lesson of faith! 

Dig the ditches and let God fill them in His timing. He will do this in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways. May the LORD grant us the kind of faith that acts "by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7), and may we expect Him to work although we see no wind or rain.

-Streams in the Desert, December 7th