Supersize Me

We live in a society where we love to go large. We love everything big. We go to fast food restaurants and say, "yeah, you can supersize those fries and my drink." We love to buy big screen televisions and if a 17 inch computer monitor is good then a 22 inch one must be better. I have to admit I have fallen into the trap of as long as we are here mentality that I might I as well get the biggest product ( because the biggest is the best, right?).

While we have all seen the pitfalls of going large in the arena of eating my passage today takes us to a place it's okay to have a supersize portion. It's called our faith. In the Old Testament God sent to the kings of Israel two great prophets, men of god who tried like heck to keep the kings following God's ways. There names were Elijah and Elisha. No confusion there, right?

Elijah did some amazing things in his ministry through his faith in the Lord and obedience to God. Last week I touched upon on his stories when he had the smackdown with the prophets of Baal, but he was also allowed to perform other miracles as well like raising a child from the dead. At the end of his ministry God raised up a successor, Elisha, and Elisha like any good protege, stuck to Elijah like glue. He went with him everywhere.

One day when they were out they came to the Jordan River and needed to get to the other side. No bridge, no problem. "Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!" 2 Kings 2:8 From there Elijah asks Elisha what he would like since Elijah's ministry and life were about over and Elisha's response is classic. "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor." 2 Kings 2:9

Elisha was saying in a sense, "God give me twice what that guy over there has. I want what he has and then some." Elisha's request was eventually honored and it can be traced that Elisha actaully performed twice as many miracles as Elijah did. Isn't God awesome? Have you ever seen qualities in other's that you like? Maybe a great speaker or a great person of faith? While God has made us all unique it's still okay to say, "Lord, can I have double the prayer life that my friend Peggy Sue has? She seems to pray such powerful prayers." "Lord, can you give me strength of my friend Janie who seems to handle every crisis in her life with such ease?

The beauty of faith is that God didn't give Elisha twice as much faith as Elijah and that allowed him to be twice as useful to God. No, we are all given the same amount of faith when we come to Christ. It's all a matter of how we tap into our faith that sets us apart. God may give different spiritual gifts to everyone, but He doesn't give out more faith to any one person. If we are determined to live for God, with his power and our faith we can move mountains.

The Bible says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 The number one thing that frustrated Jesus about his disciples was their lack of faith. If we have to see the results in the physical world first to believe something then that doesn't take much faith. Paul reminds us, "We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

So if you would like special abilities, to increase the power of your faith, to be used by God in a mighty way then ask Him. And step out in faith and act upon the requests. And then watch the results. They maybe twice what you asked for.