MOMMA, WHAT IS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
I have an old fashion looking barrel with a little meal in the bottom...
beneath the meal, I have a big printed sign: MIRACLE...
YOU CAN NOT SEE MIRACLE UNTIL THE MEAL IS ALMOST GONE...
I. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE BROOK GOES DRY?
A. There was a very wicked KING NAMED AHAB...
He did evil in the sight of the Lord ... MORE THAN ANY BEFORE HIM...
B. AHAB MARRIES A WOMAN OUT OF THE FAITH NAMED JEZEBEL...
C. Jezebel encourages AHAB TO BUILD ALTARS TO BAAL...
They provoked ISRAEL TO ANGER GOD...
D. THERE WAS A PREACHER THAT AROSE TO SPEAK AGAINST THE SIN OF AHAB,
AGAINST JEZEBEL, AND AGAINST ISRAEL...
E. AHAB AND JEZEBEL HATED THE WORD OF GOD...
THE KING AND QUEEN HATED THE PREACHER...
THEY HATED THE MESSAGE THE PREACHER SPOKE...
F. Elijah spoke: DROUGHT IS COMING...
A terrible drought... THIS NATION NEEDS TO COME BACK TO GOD...
G. GOD SPEAKS TO THE PREACHER WITH A PLAN...
1 Kings 17:2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
[3] Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before
Jordan.
[4] And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed
thee there.
[5] So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook
Cherith, that is before Jordan. [6] And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning,
and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
[7] And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain
in the land.
H. THE RAVENS DO NOT COME... THE WATER IN THE BROOK DRIES UP...
GOD STILL HAS A PLAN WHEN THE BROOK GOES DRY...
II. GOD HAS A MOTHER, A WIDOW MOTHER THAT GOD IS GOING TO TEST...
THE PLAN MAKES SENSE TO THE PREACHER ... UNTIL HE HEARS THE WHOLE STORY...
A. PREACHER YOU BETTER HEAR FROM GOD,
GET GOD'S PLAN WHEN YOUR BROOK GOES DRY...
1 Kings 17:8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
[9] Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a
widow woman there to sustain thee.
B. Elijah starts WALKING TOWARD HIS MIRACLE...
C. THE PLAN MAKES SENSE, MUST BE A MOTHER OF MEANS TO PROVIDE FOR ME...???
III. GOD THIS PLAN YOU HAVE IS STUPID...
A. GET ME SOME WATER TO DRINK IS THE FIRST TEST...
THIS TESTS HIS FAITH... THIS TEST THE MOTHER'S FAITH... GET ME SOME WATER...
1 Kings 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the
widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little
water in a vessel, that I may drink.
B. GOD HAS A PLAN...
IV. OH, YEAH, THERE IS MORE THAN A WATER TEST...
MOTHER --- BRING ME SOMETHING TO EAT... GOD TOLD ME???
1 Kings 17:11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a
morsel of bread in thine hand.
V. LET US LOOK AT THE CIRCUMSTANCES... PREACHER GET REAL,
THIS IS NOT A STORY ABOUT A MOTHER, THIS IS A STORY ABOUT A MOTHER TRUSTING
GOD FOR HER CHILD... HER ONLY SON...
A. PREACHER, I LOVE TO GIVE...
I CAN GIVE YOU MY PART...
BUT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MY SON'S PROVISIONS...
1 Kings 17:12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a
barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for
me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
B. HOW CAN A MOTHER GIVE HER SON'S LAST MEAL AWAY?
VI. NO FEAR, MOM, ONLY TRUST AND OBEY... TRUST AND OK...
ELIJAH SAID: MOM, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TRUST ME...
MOM, TRUST --- I HAVE HEARD FROM GOD...
MOM, TRUST THE GOD THAT PROVIDES...
A. BLESSED ASSURANCE...
1 Kings 17:13 Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof
a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
B. IF WHAT I HAVE IS NOT ENOUGH, THEN IT IS SEED TO BE SOWN...
VII. WHAT IS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL?
A HAND MEAL? A LITTLE OIL? NO --- MOTHER ---
THERE IS A MIRACLE IN THE BOTTOME OF THE BARREL...
A. ANY NATION HAS NO BETER GIFT THAN A PRAYING MOTHER...
A MOTHER THAT LISTENS TO THE PREACHER AND THE WORD OF GOD...
1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
[15] And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat
many days.
[16] And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord,
which he spake by Elijah.
B. A MOTHER THAT TEACHES HER CHILD TO GIVE AND TRUST GOD FOR THE MIRACLE
IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL...
VIII. THERE IS A GREATER TEST FOR THIS MOM, HER CHILD GETS SICK...
OK, MOTHER --- HOW IS IT GOING?
WHAT, YOUR SON DIED!!!!
A. SHALL WE CALL FOR THE COACH OF THE BALL TEAM?
B. IS EDUCATION THE ANSWER?
1 Kings 17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the
house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
C. THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL HAS MORE ...
IX. THE LORD HEARD THE VOICE OF ELIJAH BECAUSE ELIJAH HEARD THE VOICE OF THE
LORD...
A. GOD HEARS ELIJAH BECAUSE ELIJAH HEARD GOD...
1 Kings 17:22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again,
and he revived.
[23] And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered
him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
[24] And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word
of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.
B. GOD HEARD A MOTHER BECAUSE A MOTHER LISTENED TO THE PREACHER AND GOD'S
WORD...
X. MOTHER'S CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE...
A. THE SHUNAMITE MOTHER
2 Kings 4:18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
[19] And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
[20] And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and
then died.
23. IT SHALL BE WELL!
26. IT IS WELL!
B. A MOTHER CAME FROM CANAAN, SHE BEGGED FOR HER DAUGHTER...
A. COME TO LOST OF ISRAEL... DOGS CAN NOT HAVE...
Matthew 15: 22- 27
B. YES, LORD, BUT THERE ARE CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE...
C. WHAT ABOUT THE PRAYING MOTHER: HANNAH AND HER SON SAMUEL?
D. WHAT ABOUT ELISABETH AND JOHN THE BAPTIST?
E. WHAT ABOUT GRANMOTHER LOIS? DAUGHTER EUNICE? SON TIMOTHY...
CONCLUSION:
MOTHER DEAREST--- THERE IS MORE THAN MEAL IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL...
THERE ARE MANY MIRACLES FOR YOU, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR CHURCH IN THE BOTTOM
OF THE BARREL...
HIS SERVANT, WADE MARTIN HUGHES, SR. Kyfingers@aol.com
PASS IT ON?
