Perhaps when you watch such reports, you say to yourself, “Where’s MY bailout?! I sure could use a ‘financial stimulus plan’ myself!”
Partner, neither the government nor Wall Street hold the true key to your financial rescue. In fact, those who trust in human sources for their breakthrough are likely to end up like the woman who wasted years looking in the wrong direction for her healing: She “was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse” (Mark 5:26).
If you’re hoping the President or Congress will solve your financial difficulties, you’re looking in the wrong place. Instead of focusing on your circumstances or seeking a rescue plan from the government, it’s time to look to the Lord!
God has good news for you today. In fact, it’s GREAT News:
No matter how deep a pit you are in, He has
designed a perfect “bailout plan” just for you!
Look at King’s David’s testimony of how God bailed him out of the “pit of destruction” and “miry clay”:
I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God (Psalm 40:1-3).
Whether you’re in a financial pit or some other dark valley today, God is stretching out His mighty hand to lift you back to the solid rock and give you a “new song”—a “song of praise!
When the Brook Dries Up
Sometimes we forget that men and women in the Bible often went through trials very similar to those we face today. For example, we’re told the prophet Elijah “was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17), and sometimes he clearly needed a supernatural “bailout” from God.
Even though for three years the Lord had supernaturally provided Elijah with food brought by ravens and water from a brook, “it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land” (1 Kings 17:7).
Have you ever felt like your “brook” dried up and God’s help and provision were nowhere to be found? Perhaps you’re feeling that way today, struggling to make ends meet and wondering whether God will be faithful to meet your needs.
At times like these, it’s important to remember that whenever you ask the Lord for a miracle, He will give you an instruction. In Elijah’s case, God told him to go to Zarephath:
Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you (1 Kings 17:9).
Without debate or delay, Elijah “arose and went to Zarephath” (v. 10). He chose to obey, knowing that obedience was his only hope of unlocking God’s supernatural provision in his life.
It Only Takes a “Handful”
Just as Elijah had to choose whether or not to obey God’s instructions, so the widow he found in Zarephath faced a difficult decision when the prophet told her, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand” (v. 11).
This may not seem like a very difficult request, but you have to understand the woman’s situation: “I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die” (v. 12).
This widow had almost nothing left…only a “handful” of flour and a little bit of oil. But you see, this “HANDFUL” was the key to her miracle!
As long as the woman held on to her meager supply of food, that’s all she had. But when she obeyed God’s instructions and released what was in her hand, God intervened in her circumstances and released the supernatural abundance that was in HIS hand!
Although the Lord’s instructions to this poor widow must have seemed totally unreasonable, His purpose was not her demise but her BLESSING! Elijah assured her that if she would obey, “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth” (v. 14).
She chose to obey the prophet of the Lord, and the result was MIRACULOUS provision: “She and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah” (v. 15).
What an amazing miracle! In a time of drought and famine, this desperate woman went from having “not enough” to having “more than enough.” From the brink of starvation and death, she experienced life and abundance—all because she chose to obey the man of God and believe the Lord’s word to her.
What’s in Your Hand?
The key to God’s bailout plan for you is not in some far-off place—it’s right there in your hand!
But here’s the problem:
What you have in your hand must be transferred into God’s hand!
This isn’t some novel theory, but a principle found throughout the pages of Scripture.
How much food does it take to feed more than 5,000 hungry people? Only five loaves of bread and two fish, IF they are transferred into Jesus’ hands and blessed by Him (Matthew 14:14-21)! But how many people could have been fed without Jesus’ blessing on these loaves and fish? Maybe five or ten!
In Exodus 4:2, God asks Moses the same question He’s asking you today:
“What is that in your hand?”
All Moses had in his hand at that point was a simple wooden shepherd’s rod. But after he laid it down and surrendered it into the Lord’s hand, it was transformed into “the rod of God” (Exodus 4:20). From that day forward, this ordinary shepherd’s staff was used by the Lord in miraculous ways…
- Parting the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21).
- Causing water to flow out of a rock (Exodus 17:5-6).
- Gaining supernatural victory over enemy armies (Exodus 17:8-13).
Friend, I believe your bailout from God is at hand—and it’s literally in your hand! Whatever breakthrough you need from Him—whether in your finances, marriage, job, health, or children—the key is surrendering all of your resources into the hands of your Almighty Covenant Partner.
God Wants to Bless You!
Now more than ever, this is the season to keep God’s commandments, Sow your financial Seeds into Good Ground, wrap your faith with expectation, and be fully persuaded that He will bless you!
God promises that if you keep the words of His Covenant, you will “prosper in all that you do” (Deuteronomy 29:9)!
Your friend and partner,
