ISAIAH 55:9 - "ABOVE ALL"

"For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens." (Psalms 96:4 & 5) We are living in some very interesting times, don't you think? Really, stop and think about it, just for a moment. Now, look at some of the stuff that effects your mood; the stuff that makes you upset; the real terrible things that make your blood boil; and then think about how God is Great. It really is hard to compare the Greatness of God with the things that take away your joy, isn't it? Now imagine trying to be a witness to the greatness of God as you walk out your daily life; yet your life displays little fits of rage, discouragement, frustration and disappointments; do you see a conflict here? It really seems the more complex our lives become, the more frustrated we become; the more gadgets we surround ourselves with, the more chances we have to be aggravated with them. In 2 Kings 6:1-7, we see a story about an ax head that floats; not really something you would expect to happen with a chunk of iron, is it? And this story; well at first I really didn't know what to make of it. I wanted to share the beginning of Psalms 96, but could not really get what God wanted me to say; and then all the sudden He shows me this ax head floating; Okay? But, we need to see something that is very basic, I mean really basic; and it involves our illustrations of who God is to us. What does that mean? It means that we illustrate how greatly God is, and how much He is working in us, by our actions; by our joy; or by the lack thereof. How can the world see the power of God in our lives, if we are not illustrating the power of God? Is it any wonder that so many think that you can believe in anything, or any god, and that you can be alright? We that have accepted Jesus into our hearts know differently, yet so often we don't illustrate it enough for the world to see that there is a difference. As we look at this story in these seven verses of 2 Kings 6, the first obvious thing is that this is a school for prophets. It would appear that Elisha is the one who is instructing these 'sons of the prophets', because they come to him for directions and he gives answers. They start out by coming to Elisha and complaining to him that their dwelling place is too small for them all; and then another says, "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell". And Elisha said, "Go ye". Then another said, "Why don't you come with us?" and Elisha said, "I will go". So they all go to the Jordan to do some construction, and to make some beams for their new dwelling place. Then one of the students has the ax head fly off his handle and it goes into the river, he cries out: "Alas, Master! for it was borrowed". Verse 6 says: "And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim." What is your point Rich? Well, really, what was Elisha's point in this? I mean really, it was only an ax head; and besides, the tool that the kid borrowed was faulty anyways; who loans a broken tool out? But really, the point to what Elisha did, was to illustrate just what an amazing God that they served. He demonstrated the power of God; even in the little things, God is great, and greatly to be praised. Which is precisely what we must do also!!! Especially the little things; the mundane things that we take for granted in our daily lives; why? Because these little things do matter, that's why! These little things are the things that fill our day; and they are also the things that frustrate us the most. Think about it for a moment; what frustrates you and takes your joy away; the big stuff, or the little stuff? For me, it is the little stuff, and I have a lot of little stuff; things that don't work right, and cause me to get so mad I could spit fire. What kind of a testimony is that??? But yet it happens, and sometimes it happens right in front of others; people that are looking for illustrations of God's power in my life... "O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people." (Psalms 96:1-3)