How To Survive Your Circumstances
I Kings 17:1-7
Listen online at - https://www.facebook.com/Stockdalebaptist or http://www.stockdalebaptist.com/
Friday the 13th 1972 a Uruguayan Air Force plane was carrying a college rugby team to play a match in Chile. While flying over the Andes mountains the pilot reported his location to the air traffic controllers and was cleared to begin his decent into Chile. Due to cloud cover, headwinds and miscalculations the decent was initiated too soon. As a result the plane crashed on an unnamed peak near Argentina. Twelve people died in the crash. Survivors had to withstand hunger, the fearful Mountains, and 30 degree-below-zero temperatures during the night. Most of the survivors lost hope when they over the radio that the search had ceased. Eventually two of the survivors decided to cross the huge mountains to reach Chile. On 22nd of December of 1972, after being isolated for 72 days, the World found out that there were 16 survivors that beat Death in the Andes mountains. Those few people survived seemingly impossible circumstances. (source: Wikipedia)
I know that there are some people here who are facing what seem to be impossible circumstances as we speak. You may be facing a situation and it seems that there is no hope. You look at your circumstances and you feel that there is no way out. When you examine your options you just don't know how you will survive. I would like to bring you some encouragement today. When we look to the Word of God we find that there is hope when things seem hopeless. Things may appear to be impossible but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! When we are powerless we must remember that we serve one who is ALL POWERFUL. Even when we don't know what the future holds WE KNOW WHO HOLDS THE FUTURE!
In our selected text, Elijah found himself in a difficult situation. At this point in his life it would have been easy for him to get discouraged. He may have been tempted to feel sorry for himself. When he looked at his circumstances I am sure he pondered what God was up to. But God's man was faithful in the midst of great difficulty. And God was faithful to sustain him and protect him.
If you are in the midst of a great storm...If you are walking through a deep, dark valley today.... I want you to see through Elijah's story just how you can survive.Let's walk through these verses and see "How To Survive Your Circumstances" . The first step in "Surviving Your Circumstances" is to "Live For The Lord".
I. Live For The Lord
This is the way to survive your circumstances but it may be the very cause of your circumstances. This was the case for Elijah. Notice - v1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
Ahab was the 7th King of Israel. His wife was Jezebel and she had an evil influence over him. Elijah was a prophet of God. The Lord sent him to confront Ahab. Because of Ahab's wickedness the Lord was going to cause a great drought in the Land. This drought would last for 3 1/2 years. The judgment of God would affect the entire nation. There were some righteous people during this time (Elijah being one of them) But the righteous would not be immune to the impact of this drought. Elijah's issues that are recorded in these verses were not inflicted by Ahab. He was not suffering because of sin in his life. The reason that Elijah found himself in this situation is because the Lord designed it that way.
You and I live in a fallen creation. Even though we are children of God we are not exempt from trouble. In this life we suffer from the devastating consequences of man's sin. When we live for the Lord...When we are fully surrendered to the Lord's will... we may face difficulty as a direct result of our obedience.
Saeed Abedini is a Christian pastor who is currently imprisoned in Iran for preaching Christ. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, reportedly on charges of undermining national security through private religious gatherings in Christian homes in Iran. (source wikipedia) This man converted to Christianity from Islam and has dedicated his life to furthering the Gospel. He is not in prison for rape, murder or treason. He is in prison for being a Christian.
There are some pastors in our area who currently find themselves unemployed. Not because they did something wrong but because they refused to compromise the Word of God!
Some of you are devoted sold out servants of Christ. You are faithful to study, pray, give, witness, worship and serve. You are obedient and in the center of God's will. But you are facing great difficulty as we speak. You have bills that you can't pay. You have received a terminal diagnosis from the doctor. Some of your children have rebelled. Your children may be addicted to drugs. Your children may be in jail or facing prison sentences. Your children may be consumed with alcoholism. Your children may be involved in homosexuality. You live with a constant burden concerning their situation. There are some faithful Christian people under the sound of my voice who's marriages are failing or have failed. Some of you have had to bury babies and/or spouses. Some of you are in the midst of a great storm and you find yourself asking God why? Maybe you have reached the point of blaming God for your situation. Unfortunately there are some who have gone so far as to rebel and turn from the Lord. Dear friend, the only hope you have to "survive your circumstances" is to live for the Lord.
We are not promised that if we live for him we will not face trouble. We have no guarantee that if we live for the Lord, He will remove our trouble. In fact there is biblical proof that we often suffer because of our stand for the Lord. But you can rest assured that if you do live for Him, HE WILL PROTECT YOU... EVEN IN THE VALLEY!! You may be tempted to turn form the Lord...DON'T!!! No matter what you are facing, if you desire to survive your circumstances...LIVE FOR THE LORD!!! - The second thing that you must do in order to "Survive Your Circumstances" is to:
II. Listen To The Lord - v2 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.
When you live for the Lord, HE WILL SPEAK TO YOU! He will lead you through the valley that you are in. The Lord spoke to Elijah and told him where to go and what to do. When you are facing a time of great difficulty it may not be easy to listen to the Lord. When He speaks we may not like what He has to say!
A. He May Tell You To Go Somewhere You Don't Want To Go
God told Elijah to "go and hide by the brook Cherith". The word "Cherith" word means "to cut off, to cut down". - Cherith was a hidden place. By nature it was a hard and lonely place.
In the difficult circumstances of this life we may find ourselves all alone. But it has been well said that "when Jesus is all you have, He's all you need"! - We all have dreams and desires in this life. There are certain places we want to go and things that we want to do. But sometimes our plans are far different from God's plan.
As Elijah found himself all alone camping out by this babbling brook, he was at a place where the Lord could teach him some things. Elijah learned about trusting God. He learned that in the worst of circumstances God was still present. And when the resources were slack, he learned that the Lord would provide! If you will be faithful and obedient you will learn those same truths!
There was an occasion in the life of the disciples where Jesus told them to get into the boat and sail to the other side without Him. He did and they found themselves in the midst of a great storm. He may send you right into the midst of a storm. But always remember that He can walk on stormy seas, He will never leave or forsake you and when He chooses He can speak peace be still and calm the raging storm in your life. Also remember that when He sends you into a storm, THERE IS A REASON!! Even though we may not understand it, HE HAS A PLAN FOR OUR LIVES!! -- Not only do we see that the Lord may tell us to go where we don't want to go.... we also see that:
B. He May Tell You To Stay Somewhere You Don't Want To Stay
Perhaps it was not a great struggle for Elijah to go to Cherith to begin with. But he may have reached a point when he was ready to move on to something else. He is alone, he has no possessions and was surviving on the bare necessities. Some of you have been fighting battles of for a very long time. Some of your have been in the midst of difficult circumstances for many months or even years. You are tired and weary...You are frustrated and discouraged...You are ready for some relief and you want your troubles to end.
Paul was in a similar situation. He went to the Lord 3 times and asked Him to remove that "thorn in his flesh". God told Paul in - 2 Corinthians 12:9 ...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. -- Today the Lord may be telling you to stay somewhere that you don't want to stay. You can claim that very same promise... God is telling you that HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU!!! You are still where you are because He is still working on you! He is still teaching, training and purifying you! You may not like it but He may have plans to leave you by that brook a little longer. If you desire to survive your circumstances you must be willing to listen even when you don't like what He is saying! - We also see through Elijah's story that in order to survive our circumstances, we must:
III. Look To The Lord - v4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
God was faithful to provide for Elijah. He sustained His prophet. Every day the Ravens would bring him bread and flesh and he drank water from the brook. I am sure that Elijah got tired of bread, flesh and water. I wouldn't be surprised if he desired a change of scenery. But Elijah resisted the temptation to take matters into his own hands. He didn't go out hunting. He didn't seek another brook. He didn't look for another dwelling place. If he had gone anywhere else, he would have starved to death. God had ordered provisions for Elijah, but He had ordered them to be delivered to Cherith.
There are some of you who are right in the center of God's will and you are facing difficult circumstances. But there are some of you who are facing disastrous circumstances and the reason is because you have taken matters into your own hands and you are not where God would have you to be. If you are not where He would have you... You cannot count on His protection or His provisions! If you are going to survive your circumstances... YOU MUST LOOK TO THE LORD AND HIM ALONE!!! --- Along with listening and looking to the Lord, we must also:
IV. Lean On The Lord v5
Surviving your circumstances requires faith. The Lord told Elijah where to go and what to do and that is exactly what he did. Notice - v5 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. - This drought ravaged the land. The water dried up. There was no rain or dew. All the grass died. Likewise the plants and crops withered. No doubt many of the animals starved to death. The only hope that Elijah had was to trust in the Lord.
My friend, no matter what you are facing, YOUR ONLY HOPE TO SURVIVE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES IS TO "LEAN ON THE LORD"!!! Like Elijah, you may be all alone in your circumstances. Your family, can't help, your friends can't help, your pastor or church family can't help. Look to the ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP YOU! Lean on the One Who knows why you are there! (HE PUT YOU THERE!!) Lean on the One who will provide for you while you are there! Lean on the One who will protect you while you are there!
Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee,
Trust Him when thy strength is small,
Trust Him when to simply trust Him
Seems the hardest thing of all.
Trust Him, He is ever faithful,
Trust Him, for his will is best,
Trust Him, for the heart of Jesus
Is the only place of rest.
This drought lasted for 3 1/2 years. God did not give Elijah a detailed agenda of what would occur. God simply told Elijah to obey and that is what he did. God doesn't tell us what the future holds. He doesn't give us a timeline of events ahead of time. But He does give us direction and if we are going to survive our circumstances we must LEAN ON HIM!!
There is one final truth about surviving our circumstances that I would like to consider. In verses 6-7 we see that we must:
V. Learn From The Lord - v6 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.
Over time the drought grew worse, the brook dried up. Elijah's source of life sustaining water was gone. But Elijah did not move until the Word of the Lord came to tell him what to do. Remember this, God was not surprised when the brook went dry. It was all part of His plan. Even before the brook dried up God knew what Elijah's next step was. And when your circumstances seem to be hopeless, HE IS NOT SURPRISED...HE HAS A PLAN!!
You may not know the future, but God knows the next chapter in your story! Someone has rightly said that "the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you". No matter how bad things may get... if you are a child of God, HE IS RIGHT THERE WITH YOU! And He has given us a great promise in - Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. - That is a promise we can cling to!!
Up until this point Elijah has been faithful. But there is a change in his circumstances here in verse 7. The brook dries up! If Elijah had been a Baptist I think this is how he would have responded. Can't you hear him say: "Lord, I have been faithful to you... how could you let this happen?!?! I stayed by this babbling brook because you told me to! I ate that stinking flesh brought to me by those nasty birds! Day after day I have endured this bread and drank this water!! Now what?!?! How will I survive?!?! Why would you do this to me Lord?!?! Where is the benefit in serving you?!?! I give up!! I QUIT...I will just take care of myself!!"
Doesn't that sound familiar? It sounds familiar to some of you because that was your response to your circumstances. And instead of learning from the Lord, you are now suffering the consequences of your rebellion! But Elijah did not respond that way. The reason is that he had learned from the Lord. He had seen that God was faithful to protect and provide. And though he was not eating steak and baked potato and drinking Evian, God had sustained him thus far and Elijah trusted Him to provide in the future.
What Elijah did not know was that God was preparing him for something special. There was a great mission on the horizon for this faithful man of God. In the near future God would again send Elijah to confront Ahab. There on Mt. Carmel there was a great showdown. Elijah prayed and God sent fire down from Heaven. In the end Elijah slew 45o prophets of Baal. And ultimately because of Elijah's boldness and faithfulness God received the glory!
God may have placed you in a very difficult situation. You may have been in a valley for a long.. long... long time! You may have had to go where you didn't want to go. You may have had to stay much longer than you wanted to stay. You may have had to endure things that you never wanted to endure. And after all of this it seems that your babbling brook is drying up. You don't know if you can take one more step. You don't know how you will make it one more day. Your situation seems hopeless and you feel helpless. You are asking God "HOW CAN I SURVIVE MY CIRCUMSTANCES"???
The answer is clear - Live For The Lord, Listen To The Lord, Look To The Lord, Lean On The Lord and Learn From The Lord! When the time is right you will see that it IS WORTH IT TO OBEY. And you will see that you indeed CAN SURVIVE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
