The pastor and I left the store and began driving down the road. I asked him if there was any other place to try. Sears was our other option, but he thought it would be a waste of time to go there because all they worked on were very cheap watches. After urging him to go, he reluctantly stopped at Sears.
At the watch counter there were two girls, about seventeen or eighteen, sitting there chewing gum. I showed them the watch and asked them if they could fix it, not telling them what the "thirty-year expert" had said. Chewing away, one of them confidently said, "Sure, I can fix it!" I told her I would give her twenty dollars if she could. "You'd better get your twenty ready," she responded.
Five minutes later, the girl returned smiling with the watch perfectly fixed and I gave her the twenty dollars. The pastor and I were both very happy as we left. As we walked out of the mall, I told my friend, "Watch out for the experts!" The thirty-year expert said no one could fix this problem and an eighteen year old girl fixed it in five minutes!
Tomorrow About this Time
This experience reminded me of a story in 2 Kings 7, when there was a severe famine in Samaria. The prophet Elisha told the king, "Tomorrow at this time there will be enough food for everyone." The king's advisor said, "If there were windows in Heaven it would not be so!"
But the prophet's words came true and one of the strangest miracles took place—it was a radical turnaround. How it happened is just as amazing. I've got good news for you today. There are windows in Heaven and they can be opened by acting on the Word of God, but you have to watch out for the experts!
When we hear the voices of experts, see the headlines in the news, and observe the state of world affairs, we can clearly recognize the end time events that Jesus told about in the gospels. Fear may be gripping the hearts of our society around us, but we are the Body of Christ and have a kingdom that cannot be shaken!
In 2 Kings 7, God used Elijah to speak a word that changed everything for a whole city. The situation was so desperate, people actually ate dove's dung and even their own children. "Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will sell for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria," (2 Kings 7:1). The king's captain leaned over and answered the man of God and said, "If the Lord made windows in Heaven, could this thing be?" Elisha answered back that the captain would see it but would not eat of it. Elisha challenged the voice of unbelief.
It Is Time to Move Forward
There were four lepers who sat outside the city. They started thinking, "Why do we sit here till we die? Let's get up and go into the Syrian army camp." So they got up early in the morning and began walking to the camp, but when they got there it was empty. As they were walking to the camp, God amplified their footsteps and made it sound like an army was coming. The entire Syrian army abandoned their food, possessions, horses, and donkeys, and ran for their lives.
You know the rest of the story how the lepers walked in to enjoy a feast. Then they thought of their city and went back to tell the king the good news. All the people ran to the camp and they found more than enough provision. As they charged out of the gate, the captain who doubted the Word of the Lord was trampled under their feet and Elisha's entire prophecy came true.
Now is the time for the church to rise up like those four lepers. It's not time to sit and wait to die, but to act in faith. There is great provision for those who get up and begin obeying the urge on the inside to move toward the enemy's camp. "The Lord has tied Himself irrevocably to human cooperation in the execution of Divine purposes…" (Lillian B. Yeomens).
It is time to harvest the crops of souls, finances, and answers to prayers that you've prayed. Heaven is waiting for our move. When you tithe and give offerings, God said that He would open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing you don't have room enough to receive!
When you go ahead and "cast your net on the other side of the boat," there will be a great catch. When you pray as they did in Acts, there will be great boldness and God will shake the place where you are. Doesn't that sound like what happened when the four lepers started walking?
What would happen if you began to move? Our acts of faith are not only for our benefit, but for many others in our cities and nations! Open the windows of your own soul, put your expectation and hope in God and He will do the supernatural.
Look to Jesus When Everything is Shaken
In John 16:33, Jesus told us we could be cheerful and have perfect peace in the time of tribulation because He has already overcome any situation we face. What do you do when everything seems to be shaking? Hear the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 12:27-28. Everything will be shaken that can be shaken so that what remains will be firm and stable and cannot be moved.
This is not the time to believe the experts in the world, and draw back and hover in fear. However, it is time to believe the Word of the Lord. It is time to look toward Heaven and to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured (Hebrews 12:1-3).
As you move and take steps of faith, there will be an unseen army of Heaven moving and God will open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing on you.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Mark and Trina Hankins travel nationally and internationally preaching the Word of God with the power of the Holy Spirit. The vision of MHM is to take the spirit of faith, the message of who the believer is in Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit to every generation and to every nation.
Mark and Trina Hankins have been in full-time ministry for over thirty five years. Through church services, leadership conferences, mission trips, publications, radio, television, Bible schools, and the internet, MHM is reaching the world with the Word of God. Mark is known widely for his unique anointing to minister on the subjects of faith and the believer’s identification in Christ.
