How God Provides in a
Drought…
The question I want to start out with this morning is..."What do you need more of?" "What is it this morning that you find you have a shortage of? "Maybe you don’t have a shortage of water or food… but you DO have a shortage of patience, maybe you’re in a ’hope’ drought. You’ve lost all hope in the situation you find yourself today.OR… maybe you’re saying…"I need more strength, I’m worn out, exhausted....For others of you, you’re greatest shortage, is a shortage of time. Or perhaps, you’re greatest drought is in the area of finances…"Pastor, it just seems like there’s more month than there is money in our household." Well, whatever the greatest area of drought in your life is this morning… Whatever it is that you’re experiencing a shortage of…I want you to listen very closely... because through the drought that Elijah experienced, God wants to show us how He’s able to turn the little you have… into a lot!
The miracle that we’re going to study today is strikingly similar to the miracle Jesus performed not once, not twice… but 3 different times when he took a few loaves of bread and a few fish and multiplied them for over 5000 people.
Because this miracle is repeated so many times in the bible, I’m convinced that it’s not just something that God meant for us to read about and then put on a ’trophy shelf’ somewhere to be admired and dusted off occasionally.In fact, I believe this miracle is meant to be repeated over and over again, in the lives of needy believers... to meet the problems and shortages that God’s children are faced with.This miracle keeps popping up in scripture, to emphasize a point!!!!! And the point is this... God is able to meet your impossible need!
Now, notice... I said He could meet your NEED.... not your GREED!Think about it… if God can meet the needs of a person like Elijah, (who the bible says is ’a man just like us’)… Don’t you think He can meet any need that you and I have this morning? You better believe it!So get prepared to see God work in your life today as we learn the lessons necessary to see God provide for our own personal droughts.
When we last left Elijah, he was sitting by the brook of Cherith, ("the brook of breaking", as we said last wk.) watching the last trickles of water disappear.Obeying God’s orders, he had prayed for it not to rain and now the drought was affecting him personally. The lesson here is be careful what you pray for! I’m sure he’s thinking… "Okay… now what God? How are you going to get me out of this mess?"
If you’re facing a drought this morning, I want you to see 5 instructions the Lord gave to Elijah in order to provide for his need…(or 5 instructions to get out of your drought!)The 1st instruction is found in vs. 9 (READ)…God was telling Elijah, "If you’re going to have your needs met, you’re going to have to get up and go to Zeraphath".Now we don’t know exactly how long Elijah had been staying at the Cherith Brook, but it was somewhere around 2 years. Granted it wasn’t Monterey, but it home to him!His meals were catered to him daily by "Meals on Wings". And true, regurgitated raven food didn’t taste exactly the way ’Mom’ used to make it… but you got used to it!The point is…he was comfortable! And many times, THAT is the biggest obstacle to having our needs met by God. Our own comfort level. We’d rather deal with the hassles of old problems than the challenge of new solutions. True our present situation isn’t all it should be…but at least it’s familiar!Our marriage isn’t the best… but at least it’s familiar.My job isn’t supplying my families needs… but at least it’s secure. True, my lifes a mess… but it’s safer than changing!Listen! Security is the greatest enemy of success!
And so God tells Elijah, if you’re going to survive, you’re going to have to…
1. LEAVE Your Comfort
Zone…
Write that down, because He may be telling you the same thing this morning.I remember a story Zig Ziglar once told about his childhood. During the great depression, he was a small boy in Yazoo City, MI., and they lived next door to some ’rich folks’. He said, "We knew they were rich because not only did they have a cook, but they had something to cook! Not that we were poor or anything, we had plenty to eat at our house… whenever I would pass my plate for seconds at mealtime, my parents would always say, ’No, you’ve had plenty!"Anyway, one day the rich peoples cook brought over a plate of biscuits. Since they were no thicker than a silver dollar, little Zig asked, "Maude, what happened to those biscuits?"She rared back, laughed and said, "Well, those biscuits squatted to rise, but they just got cooked in the squat!"
Do you know anybody who got cooked in the squat? They’re in dire straights and they really need to do something about their predicament… maybe they need to go back to school, or get involved in church, or get some counseling…But instead of moving out of their comfort zone they just stay put and end up being ’cooked in their squat!"
Anybody know what this is? It’s a ’round TUIT’. Now since I already have a ’round tuit’ … whenever I really need to make a change in my life… instead of waiting until I get a ’round tuit’… I’ve already got mine… so now I can go ahead and do what I know God is telling me to do!Some of you need to get yourself one of these! See sometimes the best thing that can happen to us is for God to allow the ’brook’ to dry up in our lives. Now why would you say something like that pastor? Because too many times, we’ve become passive with our pain!And until we realize how big the problem is, and how drastic the drought is, in our lives … we won’t search for a solution!
And if you don’t think you have a prob.... you don’t need a miracle!On the otherhand, listen…the BIGGER the prob.... the BIGGER the need... AND the BIGGER the miracle God will provide to meet it!It may be a phys. prob., a spir. prob, a rela. prob. a finan. prob...... BUT there MUST be a recognized problem for God to work a miracle.So...what’s you’re problem? Do you have a need this morn? If do... I’ve got good news for you!If you have a legit. need, YOU are a candidate for a miracle! In a real sense, every problem you face holds hidden within it... the potential for a miracle! Hidden behind your problem this morning.... may be the door to a great oppur!Elijah was just about to be cooked in his squat…when God gave him a ’round tuit’. It came in the form of a direct command… "Go to Zerephath Elijah!…" and so he went. Ask yourself, "What is God telling me to do this morning?" If you don’t know, then spend some time with God until you find out. But whatever it is… do it, because it’s the first step in getting ’out of a drought’!
Now the 2nd instruction that God gives Elijah is more implied than spoken… but it’s just as real…
2. LET Go of Your Fear…
When God said to Elijah… "Go at once to Zarephath… of Sidon… and stay there……fear must have gripped his heart.Remember Jezebel? The wicked witch of the East? Remember she was out to kill him? Well, her father was the King of Sidon! He was headed right back into Jezabel’s backyard. It was like putting your hand in a snake pit and wondering if you’re going to get bit!And if that wasn’t enough… God was sending him from Kerith, which means "to cut or to break", to Zarephath, which means "smelting furnace" - Lit. he was moving, "Out of the frying pan, & into the fire!" On top of that, Zarephath was 90 miles away. That meant a long walk across open and unprotected land by a wanted man when there were search parties everywhere. (and Elijah didn’t even have a camel!)
I think if it would have been me, I’d stay in the desert a little bit longer until God came up with either a Ford, or a better idea!
When the fear of change overwhelms you, you need to remember 3 things…
1. God Knows where you are…
When you’re trying to live for God, and obey His commands the best you know how… and still things don’t seem to be getting better…it’s an easy thing to forget.We feel like God has forgotten us. But I’m here to tell you this morning… He hasn’t! God knows exactly where we are! It’s for times like those that I think God gave us personal verses like this one in Isa.41:10 (READ)But not only did God know where Elijah was… He knew where Elijah was going… and…
2. God knows where you’re going too!
I don’t know what God has in store for my future, (neither do you)… and I for one am glad! See, If I knew everything I was going to be faced with in the next 10 years… I’d be so scared, I’d never sleep!That’s why He led Elijah, and He leads us out of the drought one step at a time! (READ vs. 9a) God said to Elijah.. "Arise, get up!" No problem there! "Now Go!" Okay… where am I going? "To Zerephath."(cautiously…) Okay…not bad I guess, the change of scenery might do me good…"But then the other shoe drops… "Now, stay there!"We’re willing to go through a period of transitional testing. Maybe an hour or two…a day at the most… but stay there? That’s where the rub comes in!And it’s at that point I need to know the 3rd truth about God when it comes to the fear of change…
3. God has prepared a place.
Remember this: Wherever God tells you to go… He’ll get there first!See there’s no need to fear what God has in store for you in the future! Sometimes we disobey His clear directions, because we’re afraid of where it’s going to lead us."Lord, I don’t want to be a missionary, what if there are snakes out there?""Lord, I don’t want to get rid of those copyrighted materials… how am I going to do my job?""Lord, I can’t give up those cigarettes… I can’t give up my beer! What if I have withdrawals?""What if I’m honest with people (my spouse) about my true feelings? Will they still like me, will they still be married to me?"But what we forget is… wherever God tells us to go… He’s already there… taking care of all the "what if’s"So if you want God to do a miracle in your life… you can’t try and position yourself by doing what you think will get you to your goal… you just have to go! Replace your fear with the faith that God has already prepared a place for you…
Which leads to God’s 3rd instruction to Elijah…when you get there…
3. LOOK for God’s Provision
God not only prepared a place for Elijah (Zarephath), but He prepared provision for Elijah. READ 2nd part of vs 9. … behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you…" Did you catch that? God had already talked to this widow about meeting Elijah’s needs when He got to town. All he had to do was find her. Now if you know anything about widows in that day, you know it’s like going up to a lady who’s barely making it on her monthly Disability Check and saying, "Hey lady, how about providing 2 hots and a cot for the next year and a half?" It just doesn’t seem right!If God told me, "Chris, I want you to go to L.A., and don’t worry about a thing because I’ve provided a person to feed you the whole time you’re there"… I’d probably start looking around for somebody driving a Lexus! I’d think the Lord would at least set me up with somebody with money!But how many of you know the Lord doesn’t always work that way? Many times the people who have the most, give the least! It’s a proven fact that when it comes to charitable giving…the rich can’t exactly be described as generous.One study found that households with incomes below 10, 000 give away an avg. of 2.8% of their income, while those with incomes between 50-100,000 give away only 1.5%So don’t look in the obvious places for God’s provision. Many times He provides for us in ways we’d never imagine.
I remember while in college deciding to go with a bunch of other students (including my future wife) from OK. to AZ. non-stop. There were 6 of us stuffed into an old Chevy Impala, and we’d take turns driving.Well, as always happens in situations like that, we broke down, at night, in the middle of New Mexico. We had to sleep in the car that night, and when morning came, we all prayed that God would supply a way to get going.So, the owner of the car and I got out and started thumbing it. It wasn’t too long before an old beat-up car (worse than ours) drove up with 4 young men in it… they all had little baggies and were sniffing glue! The car was filled with fumes and they were higher than a kite!Miraculously, we made it to the nearest town!It’s true! God provides in mysterious ways! But the important thing is… He DOES provide!
Now listen to me now because if you’re going to get out of a drought, you need to know that God has already provided for everything you need. Just as God spoke to the widow ahead of time… God is speaking to someone right now about YOUR need, and at the proper time… He’ll use them to meet it!But like I said, it won’t necessarily be in the way you think…and it’s going to require that you follow this 4th instruction to Elijah…
4. LOSE your Pride…
Please may I get a little jar of water…bring me a little piece of bread.Now imagine stumbling into Zarephath. A foreigner. You’ve just walked over 90 miles of desert in the dead of summer and you’re really thirsty and hungry. So you sit down and notice a widow gathering sticks. "Hmmm… I wonder if this is the widow God told me about!""Uhhh… excuse me Mam, but could you spare a glass of water and while you’re at it… maybe a crust of bread!?Elijah really didn’t know what he was getting himself into, because when he added on that phrase, "and by the way, could you get me a piece of bread"…Something snapped inside of her and she became unglued! All the pressure and the frustration of trying to make ends meet with out the support of her husband came pouring out. I imagine she just broke down and began to sob…"I don’t have any bread! In fact, all I’ve got for my son and me is a handful of flour in a jar and a little bit of oil. And the reason I’m out here gathering sticks in the first place is so I can go home, make a fire… prepare our last meal and then… die!"I would have said, "Whoa, sorry I asked, lady!"
But Elijah wasn’t intimidated. He knew enough about God that this must be the woman He’d sent him to. And here’s what he knew, that we need to learn… Write it down…You can’t get a blessing without being a blessing!"
The very person who was supposed to be providing for him, and now God is asking Him to provide for her! Don’t you think that’s going to take a little humility on his part? But, that’s the way it works in God’s economy!God makes sure that both the giver and the receiver eventually switch positions! The receiver becomes the giver and the giver becomes the receiver! See, you can’t be a receiver unless you’re willing to be a giver someday. In the same way, you can’t be a giver, unless at some point you’re willing to put your pride aside and become a receiver! (I’m sorry, that’s the way it is with God! He won’t have it any other way!)And God is such a good match-maker! Somehow, (and I haven’t got this all figured out yet)… he puts people together who need each other’s different gifts. And they help each other find a solution to one another’s personal droughts!Elijah and this widow needed each other! Elijah needed food… this woman needed faith! This woman had food, but it wouldn’t last very long without Elijah’s faith!
Now lastly, look at how God used them to solve their mutual problems… The 5th instruction that God gave Elijah to end his drought…
5. LEND what you have left to God
READ vs. 13Sounds almost selfish doesn’t it? Here’s Elijah asking this poor widow to go and make a cake for himself first and then one for her and the boy?But what we don’t understand is that Elijah was standing before her as God’s representative and telling her to put God first. In the same way, I believe I stand before you as God’s representative when I say… If you want to see God’s provision in your drought… put Him first in every area of your life… physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially.It’s the same principle that Jesus gave is when He said in Mt. 6:33 (READ)In miracle after miracle in the bible... God obligated the indiv., or the group to take a step of faith, to take some kind of risk, to take some ACTION.... before the need was met.
In the story of the parting of the Red Sea. Moses had to stretch out His hand over the ocean before it parted. Before the walls of Jericho fell, people had to walk around the city for 7 days! In II Kings, before Naman the Leper was healed of leprosy, Elijah required him to wash 7x’s in the Jordan River. Jesus required a blind man to wash out the mud he had put on his eyes in the Pool of Siloam before he could see again.
Why does God require these kind of actions from us? To embarrass us? To make us feel silly? To get a good laugh at our expense?NO! He requires us to take action so we can participate by our "steps of faith" in the solution to our own problems. Believe it or not, God will never solve your problems and meet your desperate needs until He gets your commit. of faith.... your involvement in the prob.We think of what the widow had to give, but we forget that Elijah had to give too! You say what did He give? Remember, He was in the same boat as this woman, (out of food and water)! But He gave this woman hope and faith! Listen… if instead of despairing, if you’ll learn to give to out of your need…
If you’ll learn to…
1.Give help when you’re helpless.
2.Give hope when you’re hopeless
3.Give faith when you’re faithless
God will give you an inexhaustible supply of all 3!We’re calling this series, "Gaining Courage to Make a Difference", and if you want to make a difference in people’s lifes like Elijah made a difference in this womans life… Learning how to give out of your need is basic training!Because this widow gave out of her need, she met God in the kitchen 3x’s a day! 3x’s a day she looked in the flour barrel and found flour. 3x’s a day she looked in the jar and found oil.I can almost hear her singing…"Praise God from whom all biscuits flow!"
Now this doesn’t mean that she had everything she wanted, (she wasn’t eating filet mignot), but she did have everything she needed. See… when you’ve come to the end of your resources and God comes through in a miraculous way… you’re more than satisfied!Now in case you haven’t noticed, this same miracle is repeated 100’s of years later in the feeding of the 5000. When Jesus did it, a little boy was called upon to donate his small lunch.
I think the lady and the lad have a lot in common and we can learn 2 things from their faith…
1. They both gave WHAT they had.They weren’t asked to give something they didn’t have… but they were willing to give what they DID have … no matter how insignificant it seemed.Never underestimate what God can do through ordinary people and limited resources when it’s given to Him in faith! Fact is, God isn’t looking for "ability"… He’s looking for "AVAIL- ability"!And if you’ll concentrate on getting available, He’ll use you in remarkable ways!
2ndly, they both gave ALL they had.The young boy didn’t have another lunch stashed in a plastic baggy somewhere and the woman didn’t have a secret vault. They gave all they had! And if you want a miracle I your life, you can’t hold anything back from God!God, I’ll give you anything… except this relationship!God, I’ll give you everything… but this activity is mine!God, you can have it all… but I reserve this one little thing for me!Know what? That "one little thing" may be keeping God from working a big thing in your life!
What are you holding back from God? Believe me when I tell you that while you’re standing there with your little baggie… you’re missing out on God’s BOUNTY!Let me ask you, "Why don’t we give like these two when we need a miracle?" Know what I think? I think we’re afraid that if we give away our lunch… we’ll go hungry!READ II Cor.8:12Our motto as a church, if we’re going to see God continue to move here, needs to be… not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice!
Hudson Taylor served the Lord in China and experienced God’s steady presence and provision. He said, "God’s work, done in God’s way, will receive God’s supply." Folks, we serve the same God today.. from Adam, thru Elijah to us, He hasn’t changed.So before you despair… before you give up and lose all hope… take inventory not of what you’ve lost, but what you have left! Be willing to give out of your need… and watch God do a miracle!
That way, when you run into people who tell you all the reasons it shouldn’t, couldn’t, and wouldn’t be done… when you hear them remark, "Well, that’s impossible! We just don’t have the money!"…
… Stop and listen carefully for laughter from heaven!
That’s because the word "impossible" isn’t in God’s vocabulary! And as His children… it shouldn’t be in ours either!
Jesus said, "ALL things are possible to him who believes, and with God, ALL things are possible!"
So no matter how big your need… don’t worry about God… He can handle it! He’s not intimidated by it! Now, He won’t do what you can do for yourself… but He will pick-up where our human limitations end!
If you want to know the central point of this whole story, it’s this…
"What we want God to do for us… He waits to do through us!"
The reason… Because God enjoys doing miracles through His people! He likes to include us in on the fun! See… MEN & women are God’s method! (repeat) and He loves to use us!
