1 Kings 17:6
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (NIV)
In 1 Kings 17:1-16 – It was a time where 19 evil kings had reigned over the people of God. The evilest of them all was Ahab. He allowed the worship of idols and married Jezebel, a high priestess. As a result, there was a spiritual drought when God’s people also started worshipping idols.
As a result of this spiritual drought, Elijah announced a physical drought to Israel. “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” Things had turned from bad to worse. Elijah then flees from the place to a brook of water where God provided his food through ravens.
Later on, this brook that he drank water from dried up. Elijah was now alone and in a hopeless situation. When we face such bad situations in our lives, it is easy to isolate ourselves in a personal cocoon where we want to be alone in despair – away from people and away from church too. However, God wants to reach out to help us. In vs. 9 ‘Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ‘
We should not block out God/cut the line of communication with God. Elijah did not cut communication with God and that’s why the word of God came to him. God sustained Elijah from a brook that would not have existed in the drought, and later from a poor widow who was about to starve. He made a way for Elijah from very unlikely sources.
As Christians, we must not lose hope when things aren’t going as they are supposed to be. The hard times we face are seasonal, they will end and God will take care of us as he did Elijah. He provided for him meat from ravens and food from a poor widow. These were two unique people who depended on God. The exiled prophet was humble enough to be fed by a starving widow.
Let us determine, that even when we go through a ‘drought’ in our lives, we will still seek God and that we will be humble enough to continually depend on Him. Because God works in ways that are beyond us. He is the hope we can depend upon.
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