Focus: Prove Me Now!

Text: Mal.3:10

"Prove me now…"

The word 'prove' means to find out the real essence or quality of a metal. It is making manifest the true nature of a thing.

*Prove God for yourself

The Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to PROVE Solomon with hard questions. In the end, she saw his wisdom and the super structures he had set up, and exclaimed, "It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard… Blessed be the LORD thy God…" (2Chron.9:5,6,8). As a matter of fact, the Scripture says that after beholding the splendor of his kingdom, that "there was no more spirit in her" (1Kgs.10:5). For a moment she was breathless - totally overwhelmed. She heard and saw so much more than she was previously told. She found things out for herself. She realized that the story of Solomon making news headlines in her country was not a cock-and-bull story. She confirmed and affirmed that they were true.

The woman of Samaria, after encountering Christ, ran back to her people and told them, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did…" The response was that the people believed her. But after they saw Christ, heard His words, and stayed with Him for two days, they said, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world" (Jh.4:39,42). And many more people believed. Faith has proofs. You can be the evidence of God that someone has been looking for.

*How to prove God

You can prove God for yourself. God is better felt than told. You can verify God's reality and ability for yourself. There's infinitely more to God than you already know.

Challenge God by obeying His instructions. Abraham proved God by sacrificing Isaac as demanded of him. In the process he discovered God as Jehovah-jireh - the God who sees, and sees to what he sees. God sees a condition and provides a solution. God said to him, "By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son…" (Gen.22:16). God blessed Abraham by oath. Abraham proved God through obedience.

Peter proved Christ when he said to Him, "If you are the one, tell me to come." As a result, Peter walked on the water, the only one among Christ's disciples who ever did. He proved Christ for himself.

You can prove that God is trustworthy by acting on His word. You can prove His power by doing what He tells you to do. The woman of issue of blood proved the power of Christ by a touch of faith. She went home perfectly healed from a chronic blood flow that had lasted for twelve years.

God wants us to come to that place in our spiritual walk with God where if He says, 'Jump,' our response will be, 'How high.' It is the place of deepest trust in God.

*It's time to prove God

God says, "Prove me now herewith…" Are you willing to go the extra mile with God. It's time to step out of your comfort zone. You can deepen your experience of God through obedience.

Remember that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, according to Heb.11:6. In the Greek, the word 'seek' has a prefix to it, which intensifies the verb. It is the word 'ekzeteo,' which means, to seek out. It implies something of the hiddenness of God that you can't find on the surface. You have to dig deeper or go higher to realize that there is more to God than meets the eye.

God wants us to get more out of Him. Why settle on the surface when so much more lies beneath.

Isaiah says, "With joy you shall draw water from the wells of salvation." The woman of Samaria said to Jesus, "You have nothing to draw with." And that is precisely the problem of many believers. We come into the presence of God with nothing to draw with - no faith, no expectation, no obedience. We can't draw God out without faith, obedience, worship and sacrifice. Tithing is still one way to prove God's faithfulness.

Prove God for yourself. Those who prove God will find more of Him. Get the God experience for yourself. God wants to make you a testifier of His infinite greatness. Get to discover more of God's reality. Create your own testimony of God. The blind man of John 9 said, "One thing I know: once I was blind, but now I see." Seek God out for yourself. Let us not fall into the class of those that C. S. Lewis was referring to, when he said, "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies, but he hopes he'll never have to use it." God remains an integral part of our lives. We should search Him out, not brush Him aside till occasion demands.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter