Ignoring God’s Past Dealings Leads to Unbelief
Verse:2 Kings 7:1-2
"Then Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ But the officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, ‘Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?’ And he said, ‘In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.’"
There are moments in life when God speaks—sometimes through His Word, sometimes through the quiet nudges of His Spirit—and what He declares seems impossible. The promise may defy reason, contradict circumstances, and even appear laughable to the natural mind. Yet, the difference between those who experience His miracles and those who miss them lies in one crucial thing: recognizing His past dealings in our lives and believing His promises for the future.
The king’s officer in this passage heard the same word from Elisha that others did. Yet, while the starving people of Samaria would soon witness an unimaginable deliverance, this man would only see it from a distance. His skepticism wasn’t just doubt; it was a failure to remember how God had moved before.Had he considered God’s faithfulness in Israel’s history—the manna in the wilderness, the parting of the Red Sea, the countless battles won against impossible odds—he might have trembled at the prophet’s words instead of mocking them. But his ignorance of God’s ways led to his unbelief, and his unbelief cost him everything. He saw the miracle but was trampled in the rush of those who partook in it.
This is a sobering truth for us. We may not always hear an audible voice or receive a prophetic word, but if we look back, we can trace God’s hand in our lives. His past deliverances, provisions, and unexpected interventions reveal a pattern—a culture of faithfulness that He does not abandon. When we face new trials, the key to faith is not in straining to hear a new word but in remembering the old ones. The God who provided before will provide again. The God who healed before is still our healer. The God who made a way where there was none will do it once more.
Unbelief does not come from a lack of evidence but from a lack of reflection. The officer’s downfall was that he never paused to ask, "What has God done before?" Had he done so, he would have known that the God who fed Elijah by ravens and multiplied a widow’s oil would not struggle to fill Samaria’s gates with abundance. In the same way, when we forget God’s past faithfulness, we open the door to doubt—and doubt robs us of the miracles set before us.
Let us, then, be careful students of God’s dealings in our lives. Let us recall the prayers answered, the doors opened, the storms calmed. For in remembering, we find the faith to believe that what God has done, He will do again. And unlike the faithless officer, we will not just see His promises—we will live them.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for the times I have doubted You because I failed to remember Your faithfulness. Open my eyes to see Your hand in my past, so I may trust You with my future. Strengthen my heart to believe even when Your promises seem impossible. Let me not just witness Your miracles but partake in them fully. Amen.