1 Kings 17
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the
inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall
not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
2 Then the word of the Lord
came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward,
and hide by the Brook Cherith,
which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you
shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the
Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread
and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from
the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried
up, because there had been no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord
came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs
to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So
he arose and went to Zarephath
1. Cherith - If you do some research about brook
Cherith, it is actually dry in summer. Then imagine when days of no rain how
that brook would be. River Jordan always floods, God could have sent him to
Jordan. But Elijah never questioned God. He never suggested to God, why you
don’t send me to Jordan. Elijah’s safety from Ahab was important for God.
2. Ravens - If you see the ravens, they are not
ordinary crows. Their nature is to grab food from your hands. But God is
telling Elijah that the ravens will feed you. Still he never questioned God.
3. Widow - Then he is asking him to go to a widow
and saying that she will provide for you. Widows are poor in those days as the
man is the main provider. It is famine and she is poor and here God is telling
Elijah that she will provide for him. She was a gentile woman too. Still Elijah
never questioned God. It was God’s plan that Elijah would be a blessing to that
widow.
In our lives too, we should never be a questioning
Christian. Logic and faith cannot mingle – when God asks us to step out in
faith or do something, we use our finite, tiny brain and try to figure it out –
we figure out the logic. Whether God provides for us through the ravens or
through a widow, He is our ultimate source.
If Moses was trying to figure out how he is going to provide
for all the Israelites, he would not have left Egypt. Many of us are still in
our ‘Egypt’ (under bondage) because we do not want to step out in faith. We are
still trying to figure it out. We question His plans; we question His
instructions for us. We ask how it can be – it makes no sense. We are expecting God to give us the entire blue print of our life, when He is willing to guide us one step at a time and one day at a time. Moses just
trusted that His presence would go before him and that was enough. That must be
our faith too – that if God be for us who can be against us.
Give all you have the 5 loaves and 2 fishes to God – he will
multiply – that meal was just enough for that boy. He never thought if I give
to others, it will not be enough for anyone. He didn’t use his brain. He just
gave what he had to Jesus and he multiplied. Give what you have to Jesus.
Today, decide in your heart never to question God. As far as the heavens are above the earth so high are His ways above yours, His plans are always to prosper you and not to harm you.
