The second key to the extraordinary life is obedience. The story of Elijah and the widow is a journey into the workings of the supernatural. Elijah was man subject to life passions (i.e. weaknesses, failures, ups and downs) as we are (James 5:17). Can you imagine coming to a widow who is about to eat her last meal in the midst of famine and eating the food in the name of God? Sometimes people accuse pastors of materialism; maybe there is some truth to it, since pastors are human. Sometimes religious leaders are accused of receiving offerings from poor people; they say the pastors are so rich, they are the richest in their church and people are poor. As humans there will always be excesses that we should avoid. But the story of Elijah and the widow is a window into how the supernatural works. God’s word came to Elijah and God required the widow to feed the prophet in the midst of a famine (1 Kings 17:9-16). Essentially the widow offered her last meal to the prophet.
The widow’s survival depended on her obedience. Elijah, the Tishbite, received the meal and ate it with conviction and something out of the ordinary took place both in the life of the prophet and the widow. Is it not amazing that God will require a widow to offer her last meal to a prophet? It was God that commanded the prophet to receive the meal. Here we are introduced into an important key to the extraordinary life – obedience.
If you are going to live an extraordinary life, you will have to learn to take instructions from God and to be obedient to those instructions. It is possible to miss the best that God has for you because of disobedience. Obedience is an important key to living an extraordinary life. In this instance, the widow would not have survived the famine, except she was willing to offer her last meal to the prophet. Her behavior was irrational and illogical.
There are many times that God will require us to do things that do not make sense. Sense knowledge is important, but God-knowledge is superior. The key to the supernatural is to obey God. However, bear in mind that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. What might be illogical to man may be logical to God.
Make the commitment today to live a live a life of obedience. Obeying God brings us to the subject of hearing God and divine guidance. This is another important key to the extraordinary life. We are not likely to obey God if we cannot understand his instructions. How can a man hear from God? Would you like to learn to hear from God or do you already know God’s voice?
Just like knowing God, learning to hear God is a process. There a number of significant ways God spoke to people in Biblical times and in contemporary history. We will consider some of these ways in subsequent lessons. Though related, we will like to distinguish hearing God from obedience. The ability to hear God is a key that stands by itself. Obedience is acting on that ability and itself is a key.
Enjoy the rest of your week. We look forward to hearing from you.