Little Can Be Much

Bill Brinkworth

Somehow many Christians have gotten it into their heads that if God is blessing it will be shown by prosperity and ease. Perhaps that thinking was drummed into them through the “prosperity Gospel” crowd, who teach that God wants you to be rich and gives one an easy life if they are right with him. Maybe it is our own natural thinking that makes us believe that any problems can only mean that we are not right with God and His hand is against us if there is any type of problem. That teaching is not evidenced in the Bible often, however.

Yes, there were times when God gave peace and prosperity to some at certain times, but the majority of the times God’s evidence of power was during “bad” times and problems. The hard times can be a time to get close to Him and see His mighty power.

His miracles were and are performed with the most irrational objects, and resulted in the most illogical solutions. Yet, when all was finished, there was no question that God had done a great thing. Some of these great supernatural occurrences were:

The earth was created in six days by God only, not over millions of years, and not by many different occurences. Being created by one God is not the way that a “natural” man would understand.
The people were scattered at the tower of Babel, not by a disease, not by an enemy, but by a confusion of languages.
Moses and God’s people had a way of escape from the encroaching enemy when he simply stretched his hand over the sea, and watched as God took an “impossible” method to open the Red Sea for them to cross to safety.
The walls of a protected enemy were knocked down by a simple shout at Jericho, not ramming machines, nor by a vast army.
Naaman’s leprosy was cured by simply dipping in the Jordan River seven times, not by some doctor’s cure or some super drug.
Gideon was vastly outnumbered, but got the victory in battle with only 300 men, lamps, pitchers, and their shout.
Under-sized David slew his adversary with a small, smooth stone propelled from his sling.
Vast enemies were chased by little, God-controlled hornets.
Five, small barley loaves and two fishes fed over 5,000 people.
A blind man’s sight was restored not by surgery or some miracle cure, but by spittle and clay.
Sins of man can be forgiven simply by Jesus’ paying for them 2000 years ago by the blood He shed on Calvary, not by our good works or our payment for them.

Anyone can get by with the help of millions of dollars; there’s not much miracle in that. There is not always proof that God is in the solution when money bought the way out of the problem. When there is plenty in the check book, just about anybody can change any situation. Solving situations with plenty is not necessarily God’s fingerprint on the solution. His involvment is often evident when a little goes a long way.

Perhaps wealth is not proof that God is necessarily blessing those that have it. Maybe it is the other way around. Maybe wealth is not such the blessing we would like to believe. Many that have much are usually not as close to God as those that are counting on Him for their daily bread, trusting Him for their only deliverance from their dilemma, and seeing Him work in their lives every day. Little is much when God is in it, because God can do anythng He desires with anything!

This lesson was featured in The Bible View #83.