1 Kings 17:2-4
“Then the word of the LORD
came to him, saying, "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by
the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you
shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
1 Kings 17:8-9
“Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
There are some observations the Lord quickened to me from these two stories.
1. It was a time of famine.
2. God commanded provision.
3. God revealed the source of provision to His servant.
4. The provision came from a most unlikely source.
5. God provided for the provider as well as the servant of God.
I
want to encourage you today, that even though we live in times of
tremendous financial uncertainty, that God’s kingdom is not dependent on
the kingdoms of this world. We need to move our source of confidence
and provision from this world system and our system of support and put
our confidence completely in God for our provision.
God commanded provision.
Commanded is past tense. Even before the need arose and even before he
revealed it to his servant, God had already prepared the provision. ( pro vision means seeing something before it happens.)
Hearing God’s voice.
This is why it is so important that we put our focus totally on God as
our provider. The provision is already there, we just need to hear from
God to access it. We need to seek God for our provision and respond to
the voice of His Spirit. God may nudge you to send and encouraging email
to someone or to maybe contact someone that you have not touched base
with in a long time. It is when in the business of our lives we take
time to hear and obey those simple little nudges of the Spirit that we
open the door for the supernatural.
Unlikely source.
Who would have ever thought of depending on ravens and a starving widow
for provision? Sometimes we keep dipping into the same wells all the
time, when God’s provision is from some new place totally unexpected.
If
Elijah had not obeyed the prompting of the Spirit and asked the widow
to give him the last little bit of bread she had, she and her son would
have starved to death. When we respond to the prompting of the Spirit in
presenting our need, it not only brings provision for us but it may be
the salvation of the giver, and part of God’s plan for their provision.
Jesus
said in Matthew 6 that we should not be concerned about what we are
going to eat or wear, “for your Father knows the things you have need of
before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:8
