Daily Affirmations - Day 4 - According to the Word of the Lord - Still Sufficient Grace

Day 4: Still sufficient grace

I am simply a steward of all God provides

A man came… bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread… along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said. “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord (2 Kings 4:42-44).

Our Father in heaven, God of flawless word, God of trustworthy promise, You are the exalted God who delights in the well-being of His servant (Psalm 35:27). You do not give as the world gives (John 14:27)— whether it be peace, love, grace, or any number of spiritual, physical, or material blessings.

Ultimately, every good and perfect gift comes from above... from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). Elisha knew this, though the gift came by way of a man from Baal Shalishah (2 Kings 4:42). And understanding the purpose for which it was given him— understanding that he, too, was a channel of blessing, he gave the instruction, "Give it to the people to eat" (2 Kings 4:42).

Lord, we do not know all the details of Elisha's prayers and conversations with You about this gift, but we are given the critical detail that he had had a promise from You, "They will eat and have some left over (2 Kings 4:43). And although the bearer of the gift challenged its sufficiency for the people, Your word was enough for the man of God.

Let it be enough O Father, for the people of God living in these times of doubt, unbelief, skepticism, and scoffing. Teach us to rest in the sufficiency of Your promise, unswayed and unshaken by the "Hows?"the challenges, the impossibilities— the daunting numbers, the irreconcilable calculations, the unbalanced economies, the "doesn't add ups."

Teach us the bold faith of quiet insistence, staked on the assurance, "This is what the Lord says"— rooted in the confidence that it will indeed be according to the word of the Lord (2 Kings 4:43-44). Remind us that You are the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

O Lord, against the lack of peace in these times of anxiety, rest in these times of storm, calm in these times of anger, adequacy in these times of shortage, You are still enough— Your grace is still sufficient. From the overflow of your abundant gifts to us, help us to take every opportunity to be channels of hope, love, grace, and of all our spiritual and material blessings.

Help us to trust in Your promise of peace and to give it to the people You place in our lives. So that they may eat, and still have some left over.

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