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.’ ”

2 Kings 7:1 (NKJV)

I have recently experienced an answer to prayer so spectacular in its precision and breadth it has left me a bit shocked. And by shocked I mean not quite able to take it the fullness of what has just happened. It reminds me of a moment about fifteen years ago when, after seven years of intractable financial difficulties and with no financial prospects, my situation suddenly and miraculously changed, and remained changed despite all odds, even through the worst economic recession in recent history.

Or the time my late wife and I somehow managed to purchase a condo in the impossible housing market in San Clemente with horrible credit and at a time investors were crowding out all homeowners with cash offers thousands of dollars above asking price.

Or the time I called out to God to show me his supernatural power based on hunger alone, having no experience with his supernatural power and not even knowing if that were possible, and I suddenly found myself in the midst of one of the more significant revivals in modern history, overcome by the miraculous power of God.

The opening passage of scripture above represents such a moment. Samaria had been under siege and in the midst of a famine, presumably for a long time. Because when the prophet Elisha prophesied its end, one of the king’s officers could not believe it. It was way beyond possible in his mind. Siege and famine were the permanent reality and could not be changed, not even by God.

But God is able to do what no man or woman can do. He is not limited by space or time because he is the author of both. He is capable of sovereignly orchestrating an answer to your prayer well in advance of you asking, for he knows the end from the beginning, even he who is writing it. And his dramatic answers to prayer are a reminder to us all. Whatever hopeless situation you think is permanent and unchangeable in your life is an illusion. It is an opportunity for God to show up in a dramatic way, if we but dare to step into it with childlike faith.

I will be honest with you: such a decision on our part requires great courage, especially if you have ever experienced disappointment in the past. But when we choose hope, we are aligning ourselves with the true nature of things, for God is the God of hope, with whom all things are possible. This is true whether God’s answer to your prayer is sudden or delayed. And our patient expectation of the good in a world otherwise devoid of hope is who we really are.

Besides, we will be filled with hope and faith in God’s ability to do impossible things for all eternity. Why not start now?

Photo by Nathan Bingle on Unsplash