Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. – 2 Kings 7:2, KJV

The following is an excerpt from Bible.org:

In his book Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee describes a preaching mission to an island off the South China coast…Preaching seemed quite fruitless on the island, and Nee discovered it was because of the dedication of the people there to an idol they called Ta-wang. They were convinced of his power because on the day of his festival and parade each year the weather was always near perfect.

“When is the procession this year?” young Wu [a 16-year old member of Nee’s mission team] asked a group that had gathered to hear them preach.

“It is fixed for January 11th at 8 in the morning,” was the reply.

“Then,” said the new convert, “I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th.”

At that there was an outburst of cries from the crowd:

“That is enough! We don’t want to hear any more preaching. If there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!”

Watchman Nee had been elsewhere in the village when this confrontation had taken place. Upon being informed about it, he saw that the situation was serious and called the group to prayer.

On the morning of the 11th, there was not a cloud in the sky, but during grace for breakfast, sprinkles began to fall and these were followed by heavy rain.

Worshipers of the idol Ta-wang were so upset that they placed it in a sedan chair and carried it outdoors, hoping this would stop the rain. Then the rain increased. After only a short distance, the carriers of the idol stumbled and fell, dropping the idol and fracturing its jaw and left arm.

A number of young people turned to Christ as a result of the rain coming in answer to prayer, but the elders of the village made divination and said that the wrong day had been chosen. The proper day of the procession, they said, should have been the 14th.

When Nee and his friends heard this, they again went to prayer, asking for rain on the 14th and for clear days for preaching until then. That afternoon the sky cleared and on the good days that followed there were thirty converts. Of the crucial test day, Nee says: The 14th broke, another perfect day, and we had good meetings. As the evening approached we met again at the appointed hour. We quietly brought the matter to the Lord’s remembrance. Not a minute late, His answer came with torrential rain and floods as before.

The power of the idol over the islanders was broken; the enemy was defeated. Believing prayer had brought a great victory. Conversions followed. And the impact upon the servants of God who had witnessed His power would continue to enrich their Christian service from that time on.

You Can Win!, Roger F. Campbell, 1985, SP Publications, pp. 35-36

In contrast to Nee’s story of faith, we have a story of unbelief in 2 Kings 7. In the midst of a desperate famine, the people of Samaria were utterly hopeless. When Elisha proclaimed that in one day God would turn famine into abundance, one nobleman heckled the prophet, thus questioning God’s ability to provide. In response, Elisha replied:

Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

As promised, God replaced the famine with abundance the very next day, but the unbelieving lord, seeing God’s provision with his own eyes, died before enjoying it, solely because of his unbelief.

In Matthew 9:27-30, Christ said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” Whenever we ask God with believing faith to fulfill one of His promises, He has the power and the will to do so. If, however, we ask God to fulfill His promises with an attitude of doubt – or if we don’t ask at all because of our doubt – we can expect to get from God exactly what we thought He could provide: nothing.

When it comes to the promises of God, what kind of faith do you have? Watchman Nee’s? Or, the Samaritan lord’s?