"Seven Times"

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah the prophet told King Ahab that the drought in the land was over and the rains were coming.

"Then Elijah told his servant, 'Go up now, look toward the sea.' So he went and looked and said, 'There is nothing.' And seven times he said, 'Go again.' Then it came to pass the seventh time that he said, 'There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!' So he said, 'Go up, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you'... In the meantime... the sky became black...and there was heavy rain." (v.43-45)

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be Elijah's servant on this day? What would our attitude have been?

1st time..."Servant, Go up and look toward the sea"... "Sure Elijah! No Problem, anything for you!"

3rd time... "Get up and go again."... "Come on dude, I just sat down... oh alright."

5th time... "Get up and go again" ... (thinks... He's losing it. I've already told him there's nothing. And SERIOUSLY! We've been in a drought for ages!)

The 6th time some of us may have even had a few choice words for Elijah under our breath. Then the seventh time... Would you have seen it? Would you have seen that tiny little cloud?

What amazes me about the servant is that after he had looked so many times before, he was still searching hard enough that he was able to find "a cloud, as small as a man's hand". By the seventh time, most of us would've quickly scanned the sky and headed back with our same old report.

The persistence of the servant is a lesson we should all learn. He looked for God's promise, to the best of his ability, every time. Because of this, he saw a tiny little "hand-sized" blessing that was on the way. As it turned out, what looked like a tiny little "hand-sized" blessing ended up being heavy rain! I believe we should all be looking every day for the little miracles, that God sends our way. If we can't recognize them, we may miss the big ones that have an opporitunity to change our lives.

If you've been waiting on God to show up in your life, and to bring with him something you desperately need, then I challenge you to "Get up and go again." You're cloud my be forming right now...