======================================================================== GOD CHOOSES LITTLE THINGS by Keith Malcomson ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of recognizing God's work in the little things of life. It highlights how God chooses and uses little things, such as a small maid, a little room, a still small voice, and a simple act of obedience, to bring about miracles, healing, and guidance. The message encourages listeners to have faith in God's deliberate plan and to trust in His power to work through the seemingly insignificant aspects of life. Topics: "Faith in the Little Things", "God's Power in the Ordinary" Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 1:27, 1 Kings 19:12, 2 Kings 4:10, 2 Kings 5:2, 2 Kings 5:14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of recognizing God's work in the little things of life. It highlights how God chooses and uses little things, such as a small maid, a little room, a still small voice, and a simple act of obedience, to bring about miracles, healing, and guidance. The message encourages listeners to have faith in God's deliberate plan and to trust in His power to work through the seemingly insignificant aspects of life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Corinthians and chapter 1 here tonight, we're coming to our third message on the little things of scripture. In part, when we dealt with that overview, giving you a feel, and I hope that you're already beginning to see this, the little things of scripture, that this is God's principle. He has plotted throughout scripture, whether he's dealing with places or with things or with events or with individuals, he has a real emphasis on little things. Then last Wednesday night, we dealt with the little foxes, but here tonight in this message, I wanna deal with this subject. Part three, God chooses little things. God chooses little things. And I hope with what we deal with tonight, you're gonna see that God very much is determined in choosing little things. It's not accidental. It's not that there's nobody else around so he has to use you and I. God chooses, he likes to, he deliberately does choose little things. Let's read from 1 Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 25. It says, because he's been dealing with the gospel, with the cross, with the message that we preach, and he calls it weakness in the eyes of this world. And that's where he begins here. Verse 25, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling brethren. How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen. Ye and things which are not, to bring to note things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Let's pray together. Father, I thank you for the word of God tonight. I thank you that you do choose the weak things, the foolish things, the despised things, the base things, the things that are absolutely not. You deliberately choose such little things, such ignored things, such despised things, such rejected things. Then my God, this is your deliberate plan. This is your first plan. This is your perfect plan. This is your master plan to deliberately choose the most unlikely, the most foolish things in the eyes of the world to destroy, confound, to bring to note the works of the devil. And father, I do pray in these messages on these Wednesday nights, Lord God, lay in the truth of God that will change our thinking, our actions, our words, our believing, our prayers. Lord God, as we begin to see the principles of scripture, you have already said, Lord God, that you teach us, that you teach knowledge to us, that you teach doctrine to us. Lord God, by a line here and a line there, a precept here and a precept there, Lord God, here a little and there a little. Here tonight, I pray that you would lay in those little things that bring us to a place of knowledge, understanding, and of grasping doctrine, that Jesus Christ might receive all the glory, the honor, and the praise. We love you, and we pray that out of Limerick, you would raise up little things that are gonna confound the wise, the mighty, and the noble in this hour, in this generation, that your name will be glorified. We do love you, Lord Jesus, amen, amen. My message, God chooses little things. I believe in these few verses that the little things are defined. I believe here that we have an example, a teaching in these few verses, how and why, and to what end God chooses little things. Why is it all through this Bible, God chooses the little, the unlikely, the despised? Is it because there was nobody else? Is it because all the great men didn't want this? Is it because all the wise ones didn't have a desire for this so God is left with all the foolish, useless, rubbish material like I've always felt I am? You see, when I was much younger, I felt the call of God, and I actually thought that, that all the gifted ones, and all the eloquent ones, and all the able ones, and all the ones that don't fear man, and all the ones who have the background and the contacts, I actually thought because they rejected God, because they rejected his will, then God helped God. He was left with someone like me, and I thought that was a terrible thing, but I don't want you to have that impression. You see, you're not an accident. You're not an afterthought. You're not a second choice here tonight. God chooses little things. I want you to see in these verses we've read, God deliberately chooses the weak, the foolish, the despised, those things that are not. He deliberately does that. Notice for a second the word call, God calls, God chooses. I want you to understand this word choice here. The word choice means it's a deliberate act, not an accidental act. To choose means you deliberately choose. You make a specific act of choosing. The act of choosing when there is a vast multitude of other options, and yet you don't choose them. There's lots of wise, there's lots of mighty, there's lots that aren't despised in the world, but God doesn't choose them. He deliberately, he accurately, without mistake, he does it as a first option, as his master plan. He chooses the weak. He goes seeking for the weak. He looks for the foolish. He actually searches out those that are despised in this world and those that are not. In fact, everything about them doesn't exist when God finds them. When you find them, you go, everything God has planned isn't there. Remember what he said about Abraham and Sarah. When God began to deal with them, they're an old couple, they can't have children, yet he says, I'm gonna birth a nation out of them. And remember what the Bible says, God calls those things that are not as though they are. That's a remarkable thing, and that's what it's talking about. When God chooses an individual or a group of people or a ministry, whatever it is, when God chooses them, they are not. In other words, what God is gonna do through them is not there when God chooses them, when he calls them, when the call of God, when God specifically calls a man, an individual, or a woman, or a church, or a preacher, when God calls them, when God speaks to them, when God chooses them, you know what? What he wants to do with them isn't there. You see, when the call of God come to me, I told God all the reasons why I'm disqualified. I can't speak, and I don't know how to stand in front of people, and I haven't been trained, and I'm not prepared, and I'm scared, and I cry after preaching, and I told him this very sad story. You know what? It didn't bother him in the slightest. You see, when it says God chooses, and by the title of this, God chooses little things, when I say that, God has not made a mistake. He hasn't made a mistake with you or with this church or even with this preacher. I don't know why God would use me. I don't know why God would give me a message to preach. I am in awe every single week that I preach. I am amazed that God could ever put a message in this preacher's mouth and use it. I am in awe. You know why? Because I know it wasn't me that done it. I know I cannot do this week in, week out. That is utterly impossible, but I do know that God chooses those who cannot to do something that they can only do if God equips them and calls them to that. It's a remarkable thing. And so God narrows down the choice. There are many wise, many noble, many great men, many gifted men, but God narrows it down. You know, it says here, not many wise, not many mighty. There was a lady in the Methodist revival speaking to John Wesley and some other preachers. And he said, how did you get born again? How did you get saved? She was a great woman, a rich woman, a well-known woman, a well- bred woman. And she said, how did I get saved? I got saved because of the letter M. And John Wesley and the preachers say, what do you mean you got saved because of the letter M? Says without the letter M in 1 Corinthians 1, I never would have got born again. You see, he didn't say there's not any wise called. He said, not many. God does call some who are wise and of noble birth and who are great in this world. He does call some, but not many, very, very few. His plan is usually to choose the weak without any background or any credentials. He goes looking for the unlikely and the unusable material. It's a remarkable thing here. In these few verses, I want you to note here for a second, he speaks about five things he deliberately chooses or five kinds of people he deliberately chooses for his calling and his plan and his work. He is very exact here. And I believe this is a definition of little things concerning people. This explains God's choice. And if you hear this message tonight, you begin to understand the character of God, how God thinks, what God is after, about God's plan, how he deliberately designs things in a certain way. Look here for a second in these five things. First of all, God chooses the foolish things. God deliberately, specifically, primarily, chooses foolish things, not fools, not fools. He chooses foolish things. What does the word foolish mean? Remember, it's the Greek word moros, where we get moron from or moronic. Something's moronic, it's absurd. Do you know what this Greek word means? It means it's ridiculous. God chooses the foolish. He chooses the absurd. Is there anyone in this meeting that this applies to? God usually, normally, as his primary choice, chooses those who are ridiculous, or they look ridiculous from this world's perspective, that they should be called into his plan. The word foolish means unreasonable. Or mentally, when you look at God's choice of this individual or this situation or this church, you know what, mentally, intellectually, it looks, there's a dullness. It doesn't make any sense. It's nonsensical, no sense in it. It makes no sense at all. And in fact, you can't get your head around it. That's what it means that God chooses the foolish things, because you cannot comprehend it. After a lifetime, I still do not understand why he would call me, why he would choose me, why he would use me. And you know what, that's the mark of God's choice. It really is. It is foolish in the eyes of this world. So in verse 27, God had chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. To confound the wise. The word confound there means to make a shame, to make them blush, to humiliate them, or to disgrace them. Do you see what's happening here? God deliberately chooses foolish things to confound or embarrass the wisdom of this world. The absolute extraordinary wisdom. This is God's plan. He chooses the foolish, the absurd, to embarrass the wisdom of this world. This is God's plan, Genesis to Revelation. It is his plan in our midst. So first of all, foolish. Second of all, God chooses the weak. God has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty. The word weak used here means to be strengthless, to be without strength, or to have your strength or ability removed from you. It means that you're without power. You're without the ability, that you don't have the ability to do what God calls you to do. You don't have the ability to live the Christian life. You don't have the ability to preach. You don't have the ability to evangelize. You don't have the ability. You know, many people get caught with salvation. They hear the call of God, repent, be born again, believe in Christ, and they go, I can't live this life. Do you think God would have called you if you could? Do you think God would have chosen you if he thought, you know what, this person is extraordinary. He'll really be able to live this Christian life. So I'm gonna choose him, I'm gonna call him. No, God only ever calls people who are what? They are weak. I don't have the ability. I'm strengthless. I don't have power. And yet he's gonna pitch the weak, powerless, unable person or thing against the mighty. I mean, the powerful, the dynamic, those that have all the power of this world, he's gonna pitch. What is God gonna send against them, an army? What is he gonna do? Send a well-trained people against the power of this world who are expert, large in number? No, he doesn't. God specifically chooses the weak. And in fact, the word weak also means to be feeble or to be sick. It can mean all of these things. So you've got no physical bodily strength. You're weary, you're tired. You don't have the ability to stand. And what's God gonna do? God's gonna send you against the glass. God's gonna send you against the Ammonites. God's gonna send you against the armies of God's people. God is gonna do it. And you say, but God, you can't use me. Why? Don't you know I'm weak? Don't you know I'm foolish? Yes, yes. But that's absurd, God. It doesn't make any sense. I know, I know, read your Bible. Don't you see this as a main theme of scripture? What do you think I've been doing all of these centuries and for thousands of years? You're there thinking, now I know what God can do and who God will use and when he'll act and all of that, you don't have a clue. God chooses little things very deliberately. And then notice the third thing. Base things, he chooses base things. You know what this word base means? It means without kin, without family. It's talking about your breeding. You have no real genealogy. Who's your mommy and daddy? Were you born in Watergate and Limerick? It's saying you weren't born in high society. You were low born or you were normal born. People aren't there saying, wow, is he your father? And is this your family name? And you must be rich and famous and you must have a wonderful genealogy. And look at these people in your family. Do you know what the Bible says? God normally, as a normal act, he searches out who? The base with no family background, no genealogy. Don't you know my family's the least? Don't you realize I am the least within my family? Yes, yes, David. Yes, Kyrian, why do you think I'm coming looking for you? But I'm the least of all the tribes in Israel. I know. Saints, are you getting the message here tonight? Do I have to drive this nail further? Well, I'm going to for the rest of the night. So we see the base. There's no real family to commend them. Oh God, if only you'd chosen someone powerful and rich with all the contacts across Ireland and it would open up all the doors or the money would be there, it would destroy us. It would destroy us. I'll deliberately choose someone born in the backside of the desert. You've got no contacts, no family, no future, no past. And I'll choose you to do a work and you won't know why I've laid my hand on you. Fourth of all, despised. God chooses despised things. That means those, and remember, this is not in the eyes of God, this is in the eyes of the world. And I ask you tonight, do you look at yourself in this church and God's church and the purpose of God? Are you looking at it from God's perspective or from the wisdom of this world? What a challenge. Because this is how God looks at it. So God chooses the despised. That is things that are nothing. What does despised mean? It means those that are made nothing. The world looks on them and they are contemptible. You cross the other side of the street, then walk down the same side as them. You don't wanna go down an alleyway with them, be assured. Go the opposite direction. Don't be associated with them. They are those that are least esteemed, said it not. It means to be despised means you get looked on by this world and they think nothing of you. They look down on you. They despise you. They count you as worthless and useless. That's what this world does. You know what? God deliberately chooses the despised. This world looks down on the despised. God's saying, man, I can use him. Man, I can use her. Man, they're laughing at her or laughing at him. Oh boy, what can I do through them? It is God's specific and deliberate choice. It is a remarkable thing. Then we have fifthly, not. Not, imagine being defined as not. God had chosen ye and the things which are not. What has God chosen? The things that are not. Imagine being identified. Hey, I'm a not. Not a not, but a not. What does the word not means? You do not exist. God chooses the things that do not exist, non-existent. The word not means never, never. You've never really existed with anything of any consequence. It means a qualified negation. I wanna tell you, some of you have been qualified negated. A big X has gone through you, a line. I got a lot, see at school, I got a lot of lines and a lot of Xs on my page, I wanna tell you. I was qualified negated in my education. It also means not as absolute denial, absolute wipe out. Do you see God chooses the foolish things? He chooses the weak things. He chooses the base things without a family background. He chooses the despised things and He chooses those things that are not. Do you see how remarkable this is that God is deliberately searching, choosing, desiring, longing after all of this time? That's why I call this message, God chooses little things. He doesn't make a mistake, He goes looking for it. And if you understand this principle, you can then go to the Bible and story after story after story, as you read it, you go, ah, now I understand. You know, there's me thinking God is looking for the gifted and looking for the mighty and looking for the brave and the courageous and the wealthy and the eloquent and you got it all wrong. God starts with not. One with God is a majority. You ever heard about that? One with God is an actual majority. In Matthew 11, Jesus says, He says, praying to the Father, Oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank you. Why is He thanking the Father? Because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent. Oh, I'm intelligent, I'm a scholar, I'm a student, I understand these things. You know what Jesus said? He said, I've hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and the educated and the scholars and the intelligent and those that think they know everything. I, God, have hidden it from them. I closed it. Do you realize all your ability will not teach you these things? You can't learn them. You could be intellectually intelligent. You could have great learning and yet you cannot learn these things. You will not learn them. They'll all be topsy-turvy to you. The wisdom of God will seem ridiculous. The God's chosen and who He chooses and what He desires to do, you'll go, it cannot be God, it must be the devil. And so Jesus actually thanks the Father that He's hidden these things, He's closed them. They cannot see, they cannot understand. They've got knowledge, but they can't learn this. So who does God reveal them to? Thank you, Father. You've revealed them unto babes, little children. Babes can't understand anything. You're not talking about children. You're talking about babes, little children. They don't have a mind to understand. They don't have ears to hear. They don't have a heart to perceive. And God says, I will reveal. I'm going to reveal. I'll hide them from all the great scholars with all the books and all the learning, but I'm going to reveal these things to little babes. I'm choosing the babe. I'm going to begin to teach them. What does a babe do? Nothing. What ability does he have? None. But this is a thing of God. Before I go to my points here, let me tell you about an incident in my life. For some years, I lived seven years in Scotland. One of two times I lived in Scotland. And in that time living in Scotland, I lived in the borders of Scotland, not near any of the big cities, two hours away from all the main centers. But where I lived in the Scottish borders was near a little town called Jedburgh. And when we lived there, we'd go out into all the little villages and towns. And I was burdened and we had a team, a full-time team. And we went to this little town of Jedburgh. And we ended up preaching there every single week. Every Thursday, we'd go and preach the gospel there all day long, every day, every single week, every month. And you know what? I went there and there was only a handful of people on the streets. It was a small town with a small school and only a small amount of people out at lunchtime. And I thought, I'm crazy. You see, when I go back home, I preach on the streets of Belfast to thousands within minutes. Or I go up to Edinburgh or Glasgow and I can preach to thousands. But I live in here and my closest town is Jedburgh with a cross, the market cross in the middle. And they're standing with my team. And you know, one morning I'm sitting in my bedroom and I say, Lord, this isn't right. You don't want me to waste all my time in this little town with this little harvest, with this little group of people that evangelize on the street. You need to be very careful of your thoughts where they lead you to. And I'm sitting there, I'm discouraged, I'm grieved, I'm bothered about this small field God has given me. And you know what? Just off the cuff, I got up, went over, never looked at it before. A book, it was a friend's book, and I just pulled it. I'm just discouraged. And I'm looking for God. I pulled the book off the shelf and I turned the page somewhere in the middle. I've never been able to find it again since that time. Never again found it. I went searching this afternoon. I can't find it. It's impossible. Even with Google, I can't find it. And I opened up that book and my eyes fell on a page. It was a man, a preacher called Andrew Bonner. His brother was Horatius Bonner who preached with D.L. Moody. And do you know what I read? He's praying about Jedburgh. He's praying about the market cross where we stand every week. He's praying about open air preaching. This is 150 years before me. And as I read this, it was at that second. As I read it, he says, Lord, I pray for the cross of Jedburgh that you'll always raise up witnesses to stand there and to preach the gospel. Saints of God, that was God's plan. That was absolutely God's plan. You know, for six years, we stood there, week in, week out, no matter if it rained, no matter how cold, no matter how few, I was always there for six years. You know why? God had chosen that. And there's a man praying 150 years ago. Lord, raise up witnesses. I was one of those. Do you see the importance of this? You know, one time we weren't there for one or two weeks because of holidays. And a message was sent from a little lady way high up in one of the buildings, way behind where we preach. And she sent a message down to the butcher who took it next door to the other shop owner and said, where's those preachers? Where are they? Do you know what she done? Every time we arrived there and began to preach, she opened up her big window. She couldn't leave her house. She couldn't leave her room. And she left every week for hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a remarkable thing. You know, in that same little time, during those same days, we were a young team, a young church, a very small church, but we moved into Jedburgh and we were gonna hold a mission in the town hall. It was in the middle of town, very small hall, in under the town hall. And it was a hall we rented. And as we done that, we are gonna evangelize that small town. I don't know where the population was 10,000 or 20,000. We went to every single door, spoke to everyone at the door where we could. We were on the street constantly. And that little church evangelized. They prayed, they fasted, they went to the doors. And you know what? All of us knew. We must've had about 5,000 people say, I'm coming to that meeting of yours. And we just knew this was gonna be remarkable. And I knew all of our team and all of our church, they had all exerted themselves and labored. Well, we got to the night of the meeting, we rented it and we're all there waiting. And there's two of the guys at the door with me and the time is getting closer and no one's arrived. Not one soul's come. But I just know hundreds are gonna pour in at the last minute. I just knew that. I know God wouldn't leave us standing here. Or would he? You see, I'm about to tell you about a meeting. I've been in meetings where with my own eyes, I saw just about everyone who had hands laid on them instantly healed. I've been in meetings like that. Remarkable meetings. I've been in meetings where there's been vast crowds and excitement with the remarkable presence of God. I've been in many meetings with men like B.H. Clendenin that are God called men, preachers who have preached for 60 years and have sat there in the front row, listening to a man of God bring a word from heaven. But do you realize none of those meetings affected me like this one in Jedburgh. Not one of them came close. This was probably one of the most important meetings I ever sat in in my lifetime. And you said, why? As I'm at the door, I told the other two, you go on down, I'll be down in a minute. I just know they're gonna arrive. And I went, I need to grab my thoughts for a couple of minutes here. So I sent them down, I'm standing there. My heart is in my shoes. I'm utterly discouraged. And I said, oh God, who's gonna go preach them? We're gonna preach the gospel that night, but that message is ripped up, it's gone. I know now I've got a church that's fasted and prayed and labored, and they're gonna be as discouraged as me. And I've got about two minutes to encourage myself in the Lord and then go down and encourage them and lift them out of the same place of disappointment because they're gonna be disappointed. And as I'm standing there, as clear as anything, I heard God speak to me. And this is what he said. Do you wanna hear? Do you wanna hear what he said? And this marked my life more than any sermon from B.H. Clendenin or any of those great healing meetings. Do you know what it was? And it was as clear as anything from heaven. What are you gonna do now? You may say, that's not very impressive. Oh no, it changed my life. I knew standing there, when I heard that, this is gonna affect the rest of my life for years and decades to come until I stand before the Lord. What I decide to do standing here, is it worth it? Should you have done it? Was it a waste? Would you do it again? Do you realize that question? What are you going to do now? Our message, God chooses little things. Let me take you to these points here tonight. Number one, listen this carefully. Obedience in little things. If you're gonna understand God chooses little things, this is the first thing you've got to understand. Obedience in little things. You say, where do you find that? 1 Kings chapter 17. Obedience in little things. Let me just tell you about it. It's where Elijah gets sent to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidane. And listen to what God tells him. He's in the midst of a three and a half year famine. No rain, everything's dying. Everything's in trouble. Everything's turning into sand. There is a famine. People are dying of hunger. So where does God send the great prophet Elijah, who is gonna hide for these three and a half years? He's in hiding. Listen to where he sends him. To Zarephath, belonging to Zidane. And God tells him, I want you to dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So God is gonna send, remember Jezebel and Ahab are ruling over Israel. And because of the sin and the idolatry, God has called this famine. And Elijah went in and said, it won't rain for three and a half years. And then he ran for his life. Well, here he is. Now God preserved him at the brook Tereth. Now he is sending him to a pagan land. Do you know where he sent him? Zarephath of Zidane is the home of Jezebel. So God is saying, I'm gonna send you right into the heart of the wicked King Jezebel, into her homeland, amongst her people and her family. Oh, but it gets far worse than that. And listen to what God says. I have commanded a widow lady there to sustain you. And I want you to live there. I want you to stay there and be dependent on a pagan woman in a pagan society. A widow woman and a widow woman is not gonna have much money. She won't have much at her hands, but I've commanded her to look after you. I have commanded her to sustain you and to cover you. And listen, it goes further. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and he said, and watch what happens here. What he says, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water. What's my point here? Obedience in little things. The prophet of God says to the little lady, go fetch me. I pray, I beg you, I beseech you. Go fetch me a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And she was gonna fetch it. She's on her way. She immediately obeys the word said, I'm gonna bring you some water. He gives her an instruction, just a little water. You see obedience in little things. You know why some things haven't moved in your life? It's because you haven't been obedient in the little things. Lord says, go get me a little cup of water. You say, that's not important. I'll leave it to next week. I'll leave it to tomorrow. Oh Lord, you don't need a little cup of water. You have everything. And he says, I want a cup of water. And he's still waiting. Do you know God will never move you to big things, other things, to other things that are gonna follow that. You know why? Because you do not immediately respond to God's word when he says, go get that little cup of water. In your mind, it's an attitude of heart. It's an attitude of mind. You think a glass of water, a cup of water is nothing. Therefore you neglect it. It's all through the church, I'm sorry to say. We're after the big, the important, the first things. We're looking for it. And the cup of water sits there. I was preaching in Sweden one time and I was sitting in the front row about to get up and preach. And I'm going, there's no water there, no water around. And I'm going, oh God, what I'd do for a glass of water. And here, as I looked around, one of the most despised ladies in that church who thought very little of her. I saw her walking across with this cup and this is rolling. Blessed is she that even gives a glass in the name of the Lord. And so this little lady, he stops her in her tracks and he calls to her again. He says, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread, a little bit of bread. You see what's happening? Obedience and little things in hard times. Some of you neglect the little because times are hard. Don't you realize I'm a widow? Don't you realize I don't have much? Don't you realize I'm struggling to live? And yet God is saying, I want you to give me a little bit of water. Now I'm gonna ask you more. Could you have been obedient? Let's push this out a bit further. So a little cup of water is not enough. Go get me a little bit of bread. God then, through Elijah, asks her something she doesn't actually have. And bring the morsel of bread in your hand. And she said, as the Lord God loveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, only a handful. And notice this, a little oil in a cruise. That's all I've got, not much. And behold, I am gathering two sticks. She's in a bad way. Then I may go in and dress it for me and my son. The son is lying inside. That means he's in a bad way. If mommy is out gathering the two sticks, I assure you he's in a bad condition lying in there. And she says, I'm gonna go back to my son that we may eat and die. It's our last meal. A widow with very little, and she's about to have her last meal. And what is God interested in? God says, I'm gonna provide for you, Elijah, but you've gotta obey me. You've gotta go to that country. You've gotta go and speak to that widow. You've gotta tell a little widow, I want a cup of water. I want a little bit of bread. Do you know that takes obedience? Do you know what? It looks ridiculous. It looks foolish. Look at the weakness of this situation. We are in a famine. Jezebel wants to take my head off. And you're, you've got me here in this situation. God, what's this about? It doesn't make any sense. Isn't this how we so easily operate? Listen to what Elijah says to her. Fear not, don't fear. He says, go and do as thou has said, and make me there for a little cake first. Put God first, put God's work first. Make me a little cake first and bring it on to me and make for yourself and for thy son afterwards. And thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Listen to the promise. If you do this, if you go and make for me, make something small for me. Man, that's the entire meal. You're gonna half what we had for our last meal. You want half of our last meal? Yes. It's only a little bit of oil. It's only a little bit of flour. It's only a little bit of water. Yes, give it. Half it, give it. You're gonna die anyway. Do you see obedience in little things? You don't realize how much God works in the little things. He asks you of the little things. You think it doesn't matter. It doesn't, you know, God isn't gonna judge you based on this little thing and obedience in this. Yes, he is. We think God judges us based on the big things that we obey. No, he doesn't. It's the little things, the little things. You know what? It doesn't go any further. Unless we do this. And then he gives a promise. Listen carefully. If you do this thing, there's a promise connected. The barrel of meal shall not waste. Neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day the Lord sendeth rain. And she went and done according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not. Neither did the cruise of oil according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto Elijah. This is the obedience and the little things. Elijah, you're gonna have to go into a pagan land. You're gonna walk 70 mile or maybe a hundred mile through a hot desert into a country where they hate your guts. If they realize who you are, you're in trouble. And you're gonna walk straight in there. And I want you to go to a widow and you're gonna have to trust that I am gonna use a widow to sustain you, to feed you, to provide for you in her home. Obedience and little things. And you little lady, God is gonna deal with you. Oh, God would never deal on that level with me, would he not? You see, some of you think, well, I don't have anything. I wanna show you God's gonna get right into what you call nothing, insignificance. You say, I don't have anything. Really? Can I tell you something here? God's gonna get right inside that thing that you think's little or nothing. And you're gonna find it's gonna deal with your attitudes and your heart and your thoughts and your faith and your prayer life. When God begins to say, give me it. I don't wanna, I'm gonna die. Well, are you gonna trust him? Or what are you gonna do? Isn't it interesting Jesus said that God never chose or sent Elijah to one of the widows in Israel. There was lots of widows in Israel. I mean, they believed like him, but he didn't say there was lots of them. Why didn't God choose them? Because this was foolish, weak, despised, base. He sent Elijah. It's a remarkable thing. Second of all, confirmation in little things. Confirmation in little things. Again, with Elijah 1 Kings 18 and verse one. And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year of the famine saying, go show thyself on the Ahab that I will send rain upon the earth. You know what happened just before this? All that contest with all the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and they're all dead now. And there's a victory and the nation fell down and said, we'll worship the Lord. It was only then that God speaks to Elijah and says, I know in this condition now, I want you to go to Ahab and tell him I will send rain on the earth. It hasn't rained for three and a half years. You better make sure you know the will of God and the word of God. Confirmation in little things. Do you know, usually God confirms something or shows you that it's him by using little things. You're looking for big things. God says, uh-uh, I'm gonna use little things to confirm, to show you that I'm working in the midst. You're always looking for something big. God speak to me, send an angel, send an earthquake. You know what? God confirms his will through little things. And so Elijah goes to Ahab and listen to what he says in verse 41. And Elijah said, Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So he obeyed God. He went and told Ahab, I hear the sound of abundance of rain. No rain is there. It's still famine. Everything's dead. Everything's dry. And here he goes to Ahab, the wicked king. And he says, I hear the abundance. I hear torrential rain. I see revival. There is a nation shaking revival coming. God, what are you on? This is a man walking with God. He's now prophesying that I hear it. It's coming. The most remarkable down flood of rain. No rain for three and a half years, not even dew. And yet here is coming. He better be right, I can assure you. So Ahab went up to eat and drink. There's a lot of Ahabs in the church. God says, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna pour out my spirit. I'm gonna send rain. I'm gonna do things. I prophesied to you what I'm gonna do. Do you know what those lousy Christians do? They go up to the palace to eat and drink. That shows you're an Ahab. Ahab say, God's sovereignly gonna do it. Praise God, let God do it. I don't need to be involved, but listen to what Elijah done. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and he cast himself down on the earth and he put his face between his knees. He's gonna pray for the rain. Hold on, God says he's gonna do it. He says, I can hear it, but it's not there. What does Elijah do? He begins to pray and to intercede. Do you know he's looking for confirmation? He's praying, he's looking, he's prophesied and said, this is gonna happen. Three and a half years ago, he said there'll be no rain. There was no rain. Now he's saying there's coming a flood of rain. You'd think he doesn't have any doubts or fears or worries, does he? Or is he looking for confirmation? Do you realize in the place of prayer, he is praying. And he said to his servant, go up now, look towards the sea. He's looking for confirmation. I prophesied there's a coming revival. But brother, so keep looking. Any sign, is any individual getting saved in this city? I'm saying there's coming a worldwide revival. Is there any soul out there? No, no, no soul yet. Go again. No, no, still don't, you know, then go look again. You know, we're told Elijah sent him seven times to go look for a cloud. The seventh time when he went and he looked up into the sky, listen to what he says here. Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand. That's not a big cloud. You've got a pure blue sky, a little cloud. Who do you think created that cloud? Who do you think sent that cloud for Elijah to see and answer those prayers? It was a cloud from God. Why didn't God make it big? Why didn't God instantly fill the whole sky? All he done was send one cloud the size of a man's hand. It was a little cloud. This is what I mean. Confirmation in little things. God confirms to you by using little things. Remember Gideon, how Gideon an angel come onto him. And he's hiding from the enemy. And the Gideon says, thou mighty man of valor, God is gonna use you to deliver the entire nation. And he can't believe it. He said, I'm the least, I'm nothing. You've made a big, big mistake here. No, I haven't. Thou mighty man of valor. He hasn't fought one battle. He hasn't defeated one enemy. He doesn't have any testimony in God saying, thou mighty man of valor, I'm gonna use you. Do you remember he put out the fleece to be sure? God doesn't rebuke him. God doesn't chastise him. Do you realize God listened to him? You know why? He was looking for confirmation. You know what? I believe this. I'm moving. I'm going in the right direction. I wanna follow after you. I just need confirmation. Be careful where you get your confirmation. You know, I had a friend once and he used to see the name of the girl he was praying and claiming from the Lord. And he would go somewhere and her name would appear on washing up liquid in someone's house. And he'd say, that's a confirmation. That's a very dangerous game. Do you know, we met someone here in Limerick City and he's walking across and he said, Lord, if I'm really saved, send a dove across the sky right now. That's a very dangerous game. You're really playing. You don't prove God like that. That's wicked. That shows something rotten. But I'm talking about those that are looking for confirmation. Do you realize Elijah was praying now for confirmation to encourage his own heart? I'd prophesied, God spoke to me, but I'm looking for a cloud. I'm saying to him, go look for that cloud. Thank God when he seen the cloud the size of a man's hand, he ran on to Ahab. And what did he say? And it came to pass in the meanwhile, the heaven was black with clouds. Third of all, direct guidance in little things. A little bit later in the life of Elijah. Remember when he's running from Jezebel, she's gonna kill him. She wrote him an email, a Facebook post and said, I'm gonna have your neck in this city, Elijah, man of God. You know what he done? He got depressed. Don't think these people aren't like you and I and don't have feelings and don't get down. This is a man who brought fire, who brought rain, who stopped rain. And yet he gets a little email and he runs for his life and he sits under the juniper tree and he says, I wanna die. Well, because she sent you an email. What is wrong with you? He's a man of God, but he has feelings just like you. Do you know what happens under that tree? An angel comes to him and feeds him and says, I want you to sleep. You sleep tonight. You need to sleep. And here's a lovely meal prepared by an angel. You sleep. You know, when he got up the next day, he went in the strength of that food for 40 days. I mean, it was such a supernatural meal. So he's got an angel, but notice there's a problem here. He's going the wrong direction and he's got the wrong attitude. And he's under the juniper tree. He's feeling sorry for himself. Everything is wrong. And you know what? God wants to say to him, stop. What are you doing? God doesn't set him for 40 days. Do you realize sometimes God doesn't speak to you? You're saying, God, speak to me. You don't wanna hear what he's gonna say. In fact, you're gonna have to go 40 days and be in a better frame of mind before he can speak. God, I want you to speak to me now. You don't, you don't. With Elijah, here he is. God doesn't bother speaking to him. Sends an angel, makes a meal, have a good sleep. Sends him 40 days until he gets to the mount. Listen to what happens next. And he came to a cave and he lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said unto him, Elijah, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. That darkness of oppression put you here. Now God said, okay, let's have a wee talk. What are you doing here? See, the angel couldn't shake him out of this. God was not an angel with the message. The message was not in the supernatural meal. What are you doing here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant and thrown down your altars and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, I only am left. And they seek my life to take it away. And God says to him, go forth and stand before the mount, before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by. Notice this very carefully. And a great and a strong wind rent the mountain. That means split it in two. Such a strong wind came, it split the mountain where he was in two. It devastated the mountain. It changed the scenery around him. You know what it says here? But the Lord was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake, shook everything. God wasn't in the earthquake. See again, what is my point here? Direct guidance in little things. We go, God guide me by an angel. Guide me by a supernatural meal. Guide me by a great wind. Guide me by an earthquake. It then says there came after the earthquake, a fire. Fire came down from heaven. God's causing all these things to happen. But you know what? God wasn't in the fire or the earthquake or the wind. Look at all this power. Yet God is not there. God's not speaking. Listen next. He says, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in the mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And he says, what doest thou, Elijah? He's ready to go back and fulfill the will of God. Do you realize God used the still small voice? He didn't use the earthquake or the angel or the rending of the mountain or the fire. All the things we're saying, God guide me through these things. You know how God's gonna guide you? A still small voice. And if you're not careful, you'll miss that and have your eye in all these things. And while you're caught up on all of these things, you don't realize God is speaking to you. Simply, quietly telling you his word. Fourth of all, miracles and little things. I'm moving to Elisha now. Miracles and little things. We're told in 2 Kings chapter four, that it fell on a day that Elisha passed to a town called Shunem. Where was a great woman or a woman with a real reputation. She was well respected in that community. She had a bit of money, a better reputation. She had the respect of the community. And she constrained Elisha for him to eat bread at her house. And so it was that as often as he passed by, he turned into her little home to have a meal. And she said unto her husband, when he was away again, they're talking at home. And she's talking to her husband. I perceive that this is a holy man. How did she perceive that? His conversation at that table, how he acted in there. She's watching him carefully. She watched him walking down the road, said we need to feed him. Now she's watching him very carefully and discerning. She's not taking it for granted he's a man of God. She is perceiving, she is judging, she is listening. And she says, look at him passing by all these times. Let us make a little chamber. Are you getting it tonight? Miracles and little things. Here's the wife talking to the husband about this traveling preacher and says, hubby, why don't we make a little chamber? We've got a bit of extra money. This man is doing something good. He is a man of God. We've been giving him little meals here and there. Why don't we build him a little chamber onto the wall of our house and there'll be his own apartment. Why don't we do this? And in that room, she's a planner. She's a bit like Candace. Candace is there planning all these things. And she says, we'll put a bed in there for him to sleep on. We'll put a table so he can study at. A man of God's gotta have a table. And we'll put a stool in there so he can sit at and a candlestick because his eyes aren't all that they used to be. So we want a candlestick in there so he can burn the midnight oil. And it should be when he cometh in, he can go in there. You know what she done? She built a little chamber on her house. You know, my granny and granddad had the prophet's room. They always called it the prophet's room. For any traveling preachers or ministers or missionaries or whoever came through, there was always the preacher's room, the prophet's room. There was always a place at that table to eat a meal. You wouldn't believe the preachers that come through my grandparents' home. It was remarkable. They were farmers, but that little room was for the prophet. Do you know the blessing it brought into our family to have a little prophet's room? It was remarkable. And so she built this little tiny room, not much space, not much effort, not much work. Joshua could have built it in a day. I'll tell you, would have put it up and said, that's not much effort, not much work. Doesn't take me much time. And it's there. And so when Elisha came past with his servant Gehazi, the women had slept there. And as he's staying there one of these times, he says, Gehazi, go get that lady. Go, go call her. She goes, stands at the door. He says, lady, what can we do for you? Nothing, nothing. I'm perfectly, I'm just glad you're blessed. Can I not do something for you? Ask anything. Maybe I can speak to the king for you. No, there's nothing you can do. I'm just glad that you're comfortable. That's all I care about. She went away. And Gehazi started with one of the few good things he ever said in his life. We're talking to that man of God. And he says, you know what? Her and her husband, they don't have a child. They would love a child. She would never say that. But I'm watching her. No child. He said, Gehazi, go get her. Well, they went and called her to come in as she stood at the door. No, she didn't come in. She stood at the door. See all these little things in scripture, all these little print. You have learned so much if you read the Bible properly. She stood at the door, wouldn't walk in that room. Says, yes, man of God. And he says, this time next year, you're gonna have a child. Do you know what's this? I'm sure she had tears in those eyes. Man of God, don't play games with me. You don't know what I've been through with that issue. I had it all settled. Don't you stir that up again. Don't you open it up. It's like a wound. He said, little lady, you're gonna have that child. Do you know what? God gave her a child. It was a miracle. She built a little room. She added this. It was only little. But you realize, what's my point here? Miracles and little things. Out of little things you do for the Lord, miracles can come out of it. I mean, supernatural demonstration. Maybe we have so few miracles because we build so few little rooms. Now, when I go home time, I'm gonna have a problem because by the time I get home, Candice is gonna be planning all of these extensions and little rooms and she'll say, I've got it all worked out. I'm going, don't do it to get the miracle, but this is out of your heart. You see, in the little things is miracles. Do you know just a little bit after this, it says, as the time of life came, she embraced a son. Do you know what happened straight after this? Not long after it, he died. She went looking for that man of God. Why did you do this to me? Would have been better never had that boy. I'm heartbroken. That little room's become a curse. I wonder if she thought, I'd love to tear that room down. Do you know what she done? She took the boy, took up into that little room, laid him there. And then she went looking for that prophet. When that prophet came, he raised that boy from the dead. That little room gave her a supernatural birth of a child that she couldn't have and wouldn't have. And then after when he died, God raised up that child all because of a little room. Let me finish on this fifth and final one here. Our time is done here tonight. Saints of God, my message has been, God chooses little things specifically. And if you hear what I'm saying, you're gonna say, this is the normal. This is God's first priority. This is God's choice. This is his desire. This is how he does things. And if you miss this, you'll never understand God and you'll never really walk with God and you'll never experience the power of God because you've got to understand it's in the little things, not the earthquakes, not the fireworks. It's a still small voice. Fifth and finally, healing in little things. In 2 Kings 5, we have the story of Naaman, the captain of the host of the king of Syria. In other words, he's probably second in command of the whole nation. He's over the entire army, over all the military power. It says he was a great man with his master and very honorable because why? Why was Naaman great? Because by him, Naaman, the Lord had given deliverance onto Syria, victory in battle. This is a pagan nation. This is a pagan people. And yet it was the Lord who gives Syria victory over Israel, God's people. You need to understand the mind of God. But he was a good man. He was a great man. He was very important in the nation. Second in the entire nation. And they defeated Israel. Now let's see what it says here about this. It says, and it says, he was also a mighty man of valor but he was a leper. He had leprosy in his body. He's gonna die. He's in pain. His body is gonna be deeply affected by this. What a tragedy. He's a great man, yet he's got leprosy. And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captives out of the land of Israel. Notice this, a little maid. I'm talking about healing in little things. How healing can come out of little things or a little maid. Do you realize that this little maid was the knowledge, the faith, the understanding and the wisdom of God to bring healing to the second highest, greatest man in the entire nation. And look at her, what has happened to her? She is actually a victim of his armies. Her land has been taken over by them. She has become a slave, a captive and she's carried in this home. You'd think some of us who believe in our liberties and our rights and I can rise up against tyrants, say I'll just put a bit of poison in his food. Not this little maid. Do you know what this little maid's doing? She looks at this great man with leprosy, this enemy of God's nation. And you know what? She begins to talk to the wife and say, you know what? I know a prophet of God in my land. And you know what? He could recover your husband. He could be healed totally of leprosy. Do you know what she does in that home? She begins to evangelize. She's a captive, she's a prisoner, she is a slave. What's she doing? God can heal you. Saints of God, I'm telling you about healing coming out of little things. Our little ladies who can begin to evangelize in the very corridors of power in a remarkable way. She's not licking her wounds or feeling sorry for herself. She's going, my God could heal you. My God can deliver you. You could be recovered from this leprosy. Well, we know the story how. This filters through to the king of Syria. She's so close in there. So you know that little girl and he writes a letter to the king of Israel and he gives it to his captain and says, I want you to go down there and be healed. You're important to me. You're a good general. You're a military man. You're an honorable man. You're an honest man. I need you here. You've got to get healed. So he sends him to Israel. All on the word of that little maid. That little maid's word affected the nation. Saints of God, we don't do much because we don't believe much. We go, I'm little and I'm small and I can't do, and God can never use me. That's why God can't. But God chooses the weak things and the despised things. And we know the story how they went to the king of Israel's palace and said, here's the letter. I need healed. The king rends his garments and said, who do you think I am, God? Then Elisha heard and he said, send him down to my house. And you remember how he wrote down there with his soldiers and he goes to the prophet Elisha's door, knocks on it and Elisha doesn't even come down. He sends his servants, says, go speak to him. Yes, I'm Naaman, the second house, the military leader. I heard that you could recover me. Says, go dip in the Jordan seven times. It's the dirtiest river in the nation. It's narrow, it's muddy, it's dirty. Do you know this man, this general Naaman, he got angry and mad. He turned his back and he rode off. I said, how dare that man? The man didn't even come down. His servants said, please, please don't do this. Why not do what he says? He says, well, I thought the prophet would come down and whisk his hand over me and lift his arms up and say in the name of the Lord and pray a long prayer. I thought he would do that. And he says, I'm mad now. And I'm going away. His servant says, will you not do it? What if he'd asked you some great thing, would you do it? Yes, but not this little lousy stinking thing. This little maid has brought him this far and now his heart's being tested. Are you gonna go down and dip in that water seven times? You know, when he dipped that seventh time, he'd come up and he had the skin of a baby again, totally recovered, totally restored. You know, in all I'm dealing with here tonight and in this series, this is all through scripture, all through the miracles, the healing. We have our eyes on the spectacular, but it's the little maid. It's a little male, like the first night we dealt with. It's a still small voice. It's the little things. And if you're not careful, you could miss God and say, why isn't God doing any great things? Because you're looking in the very wrong place. I wanna tell you, God's the same yesterday, today and forever. Let's pray here tonight. Father, we thank you for the word of God. And Father, we pray that you open our eyes and our ears, our hearts. So God, make us a people that know that you deliberately choose the foolish things. You choose the base things. You choose the weak things. You choose the despised things. And you choose those things that are not. Father, I pray in this last hour of time that you would raise up a David again. You'd raise up a Gideon. You'd raise up a JL who would take a nail and pierce the very head of the armies that are coming against you. Lord God, we're asking of you tonight. Lord God, make us so aware of your character, of your nature, of your actions, that you deliberately choose the despised, the ridiculous, the absurd to bring forth your plan. And let us have faith in you that with God, nothing shall be impossible. With you, we are a mighty army. One with God is in the majority. And more are those for us than against us. Bless your word and hide these things in our hearts. In Jesus' mighty name. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/qqOgUkuMlmY.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/keith-malcomson/god-chooses-little-things/ ========================================================================