Being Faithful to God and Seeing Him Respond to Our Needs

I have always thought it is important, when we approach the Lord, to feel that confidence and authority that come from knowing we have been in the Lord’s will, that we have done what we can to please God. Our good works guarantee nothing before the Lord,

our own righteousness is not enough to justify us before God, but good works do help when we are clear about our relationship with God; when we know we are serving the Lord, that we are trying to do God’s will, that we are sanctifying ourselves as much as possible with the help of the Holy Spirit, that we are trying to live the best life we can in the Presence of God, then we can approach Him with greater confidence.

This is our third segment about the widow who came to Elisha with an urgent request because of her husband’s death and the debt she owed these creditors, who wanted to take her sons as payment for the debt. We see that this first verse is rich with excellent lessons. It says that this woman comes to Elisha, cries out to him, and says: “Your servant, my husband, has died, and you know that your servant feared the Lord.”

When we are wavering and lukewarm in the things of the Lord, when we are not serving the Lord, when we are not giving to the Kingdom of God, it is much harder to come before the Lord with that confidence, that assurance.

Authority in the Kingdom of God comes from knowing that we have the Lord’s support because we are within His will and are doing our part. When we feel that there is sin in our lives that has not been resolved or dealt with, it diminishes our confidence and authority before the Lord.

I think of the attitude of Adam and Eve. The Bible says that when God came to the Garden to speak with them, they hid. Why? Because they knew they had sinned, because they knew that something had entered their minds that had not been there before, for they had disobeyed the Lord’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their hearts were already accusing them; their consciences were tainted. They felt dirty, they felt naked, and so they tried, psychologically, to cover themselves with leaves, trying to cover their guilty consciences. That is why they shied away from that Presence of God which, I imagine, they had sought before and had been glad to share in.

But when we have not served the Lord, we do not dare come with that assurance, that clarity. And so this woman comes to Elisha and says to him: “Your servant, my husband, has died, and you know that your servant feared the Lord.” She has grounds for approaching the prophet, and she reminds him that this man was his servant and that he had served the Lord; therefore, she felt she could approach Elisha to receive mercy from him.

It is important, brothers and sisters, that in our everyday lives we accumulate good works, not to justify ourselves, but for our own benefit, so that we may feel the support of God’s Presence. The Bible says that we should store up works for the Kingdom of God, riches for the Kingdom of God. It says that we should not be so concerned with accumulating money in this world, where things decay and are lost, and are fragile, but that we should sow for eternity and for the Kingdom of God, because there nothing is ever lost.

We have to accumulate good works; we have to do things that benefit the Kingdom of God; we have to live diligent lives; we have to serve the Lord. For when the time of trial and need comes, we will discover that we can approach the Throne of God with that confidence, with that assurance—not because we think we are more righteous than anyone else or because God has to hear our petition, but because we feel that we have the approval of our Heavenly Father.

The Bible is full of cases in which people who had worked hard for the Kingdom of God could appeal to the Lord when they found themselves in need. We have, for example, the story of the centurion whose servant was dying. He sends some Jews who are friends of Jesus to intercede for him, and these Jews approach the Lord and say to Him: Lord, this man, this centurion, built us a synagogue. He is a God-fearing man, and now his servant is sick, and he asks for Your help.

And the Lord granted his request because evidently this was a righteous Gentile, a God-fearing man, and there are so many cases like this. I cannot remember the name of the woman who dies in the Book of Acts, and when she dies, the brothers come to Paul to ask him to pray for her. I know you remember the story; her name escapes me right now. It speaks of the good works she did while she was alive and the garments she made for the poor, and so on. Moved, Paul goes to where this woman’s body lies, prays for her, and she is raised and comes back to life.

There is something to this idea of serving the Lord, being faithful to Him, and seeing that He responds to our needs. Good works do not justify us for salvation, but they do prepare the way for many blessings we can receive from the Hand of God. Let us live productive lives and sow, because in a time of need we will be able to reap and come before the Throne of God with full authority and confidence. God bless you, and until our next message.