TITLE: When the Creek Dries Up 082503d
C. Scott Ghan
This sermon was inspired by Elmer Towns’ sermon "When the Brook Dries Up". Though very little of his original text is in tact.
TEXT: 1 Kings 17:1-9 (CEV) Elijah was a prophet from Tishbe in Gilead. One day he went to King Ahab and said, "I’m a servant of the living LORD, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won’t rain until I say so. There won’t even be any dew on the ground." 2Later, the LORD said to Elijah, 3"Leave and go across the Jordan River so you can hide near Cherith Creek. 4You can drink water from the creek, and eat the food I’ve told the ravens to bring you." 5Elijah obeyed the LORD and went to live near Cherith Creek. 6Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank water from the creek. 7But after a while, it dried up because there was no rain. 8The LORD told Elijah, 9"Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve told a widow in that town to give you food."
INTRODUCTION
A. We’ve all been there...in the act of doing what we believed God would have us do, worshipping, praying, being obedient, enjoying His presence and provision along the way, when all of the sudden, the creek dries up. "Hey God! What’s going on? Where did you go? Did I do something wrong? What do I do now?"
1. Maybe God blessed you with a great job, then after a time, you get that dreaded notice--your laid off or worse--fired.
2. Maybe you experienced a healing. I received an e-mail this week from someone who had been verifiably healed on Sunday night--then in 3-4 week the symptoms began to return.
3. Maybe your relationship with God had become particularly sweet and precious to you and then one morning you wake up and you can’t sense God’s presence to save your life.
4. Maybe things are going fine in your marriage...at least so you think, when out of the blue your spouse tells you: "I’m sorry, I don’t love you anymore." Earlier in the week, Tom Cassells was asking me about my Sermon for Sunday, when I told him the title, he said, "Oh, you mean like when your wife shuts your water off." Yes Tom, but it’s more than just that.
5. What happened? It sounds like the creek dried up. We?ve all been in a place where the ?creek? dried up. What happens when the creek dries up? This morning I want to consider What the Bible says we should do when--Don’t despair, God will continue to provide--He’s just getting ready to move you to another place.
TS. First, let’s consider how...
I. GOD PROVIDES AT CHERISTH CREEK
A. The world was suffering a drought because of Elijah?s prayer. (James 5:17). Elijah was just as human as we are, and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling.
1. Consider this, the curse that befell the earth through Elijah’s prayers, also held severe consequences for Elijah. This was much worse than a 21/2 down turn in the economy. It was worse than the great depression. In fact I don’t know if harder times have ever been experienced excluding the great flood.
2. Elijah was a Tishbite. That word comes from the word stranger. And certainly Elijah could be called a stranger for God had led Him to spend a time of solitude alone by a little spot known as Cherith Creek.
3. But he often did things alone. He stood alone on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal. He stood alone on Mount Sinai when he stood before God.
4. Elijah had only bread and meat to eat and water to drink. 6Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank water from the creek.
5. We think that Elijah enjoyed food and water at Cherith for a year before the creek dried up. While He was there he learned a thing or two
C. Consider the lessons Elijah learned as he camped out--as he roughed it there beside the creek.
1. When God provides meager resources, we may be better off than the world suffering a drought. His accommodations were not those one might expect to find at the Hilton or the Westin. But God was providing for those who trusted in Him none the less. I pity those who have not faith in God when hard times hit.
2. God can lead you to the creek before the drought comes, so God can take care of you when hard times come. God’s provision for you does not have to be hit and miss.
a. Why even the familiar story where God promised to lead His people to a land flowing with milk and honey was understood by the ancients to mean even steady provision throughout the seasons.
b. Whether in spring and summer when there would be new buds and fresh flowers to allow the bees to produce honey,
c. Or during the fall and winter when He would provide for them the heavy cream from the milk. The term meant that God would take care of His people no matter what season it was.
3. God provides for us in unusual ways, just as God used ravens to take care of Elijah. God provides for us through our jobs. He shelters us in the houses He has blessed us with. And probably the greatest blessing of all does not seem the slightest bit supernatural--our family and friends are there often expressing God’s love and provision for our needs.
4. Elijah didn?t have a care in this world as long as he was by the creek. He had food twice a day. No thieves to worry about. No checks to bounce. No one to bug him. No telephone salesman. But as it usually is, good times do not last forever.
5. Sometimes we cause are the cause of our creek drying up. Sometimes we act foolishly, stupidly, sometimes even sinfully. Though this was not the case with Elijah--His creek none the less ran dry. Remember, the creek ran dry Because Elijah prayed for the rain to stop. Eventually Elijah?s source of water dried up.
6. When your creek dries up, listen for the voice of God. He will be directing you on what to do. Sometimes we can hear God’s voice so much more clearly when that which we have grown accustom to count upon dries up and goes away.
a. But know that God will not leave you without any options. He already has the situation figured out. See how He directed Elijah.
b. (1 Kings 17:7-9). 7But after a while, it dried up because there was no rain. 8The LORD told Elijah, 9"Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve told a widow in that town to give you food."
7. When your creek dries up, God has another way to feed you and use you.
8. Many times when our creek dries up, it is God speaking through the circumstances trying to move us to a new place of faith not previously explored. God expects you to ?eat at His command? and to ?move at His command.? We must obey God whether His leading makes sense to us at the time or not, whether we like the idea or not.
9. You see when God is moving, when circumstances are changing, when creeks are drying up, it just might be that God is planning greater miracles on our horizon. It just might be that God is getting ready to show us something which will inspire greater faith in Him and His ability to provide for His children.
TS. Consider what happened when Elijah didn’t doubt, rather, he moved as God was leading.
II. GOD PROVIDES AT ZAREPHATH
A. Don’t look for the pot of gold to immediately greet you at the rainbows end. When your creek dries up, God may send you into the middle of the drought--Dry places where fear and doubt assault. Allowing God to show you more of His ability can be a scary thing.
1. The word Zarephath incidentally means "crucible". Do you know what a crucible is? It is a small porcelain vessel or cup that is used in a laboratory. Usually what you do is you place a liquid mixture in the crucible and place it over the flame and let it boil until all the water is boiled out, leaving the solid in the bottom of the crucible. One of the purposes of this procedure is to find out what the mixture is made of--find out its essence, its properties, its quality.
2. So when you speak of an individual being tried and distilled in a crucible, you are usually speaking of an extreme test, a painful test. It is not a test that one would usually choose for himself. In fact, the only reason I can think that one would voluntarily venture to the crucible is when his creek has dried up else where.
3. So Elijah at God direction headed for Zarephath--the crucible for a time of testing. It was like being led from the frying pan into the fire.
4. Zarephath was outside Israel. Outside Elijah’s stomping grounds, outside his comfort zone. It was located it?s in the land we know as Lebanon.
5. You see, God may lead you to and through unfamiliar territory to show you what He wants you to experience--to help you become the person He is shaping you to be.
a. This is how faith in Him is developed--when we see Him work in ways we never expected, when we see Him provide in impossible situations.
b. Should you have occasion to experience His provision is Zarephath--in the crucible, you will be hard pressed to doubt Him, or his leading as He leads you in the future. You will remember well your Zarephath--it will give you great faith and confidence in God for the future.
ILL. Personally, I have experienced a Zarephath in relation to the tithe. It seems like on a weekly basis I hear some one suggest that tithing, in so far as its blessings when you practice it and its curses when you choose not to, is Old Testament stuff--it’s law not grace and therefore not applicable to the New Testament Church today. And though I freely admit that such arguments may make since when run through the filter of human logic and wisdom. But when it comes to tithing, I’ve been to Zarephath. I was left to boil down in the crucible. God wanted to show me what was really there--what His promises regarding tithing were really made of. God wanted to see if I would really trust Him. I was 24, 25 years old and facing an impossible financial situation with car payments, power bills, doctor fees, and most threatening--IRS fines--all of this with a new baby to feed. It was a painful, anxious, sleepless time in my life. I don’t think I have ever fretted and feared for a longer or more perplexing period of time in my life. It was only when Annette and I made the decision that we would tithe + 5% and test God in this as His word challenges us to do that miracles began to happen. We found that the window of heaven described in the Old Testament can still open and pour out blessings on the New Testament Christian. So don’t try to convince me that tithing--giving God His tenth doesn’t work today, I won’t believe you--because I discovered something wonderful about God while in the crucible and I’m not going to turn loose of it.
6. yes God may lead you away from that which has brought great comfort, away from that good job, He may lead you away from that place of rest for a season, but if you will follow Him, you will find that His purpose is not to crush you, it is not to spawn doubt in His goodness or blessings. It is to make faith grow in you for something greater--it is so that you may be of greater use to Him for His kingdom’s sake in the future.
B. What did Elijah find in Zarephath? Tree’s laden with fruit? Streams newly stocked with fish? Chickens in ever pot? New cars in every garage? A robust economy? A new construction boom? Not hardly, the crucible is never that easy.
1. Things in Zarephath were so bad, the only person Elijah could find to talk to was a widow woman who was collecting sticks and dry twigs from the dusty ground so that she could go home, build a small fire, mix the very last little bit of flour and oil she had together to make a little cake of bread so that she and her son could have one final meal together and then they would starve to death.
2. I have never in my life heard a sadder, sorrier site than this one described in the 1 Kings 17
3. To the uneducated in the things of God, Elijah’s request of this destitute woman seems the height of arrogance (1 kings 17:10b-13"Would you please bring me a cup of water?" he asked. 11As she left to get it, he asked, "Would you also please bring me a piece of bread?" 12The widow answered, "In the name of the living LORD your God, I swear that I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil. I’m on my way home now with these few sticks to cook what I have for my son and me. After that, we will starve to death." 13Elijah said, "Everything will be fine. Do what you said. Go home and fix something for you and your son. But first, please make a small piece of bread and bring it to me.
4. Friend, if you are experiencing a time of rest now, if things are going well for you, if you are enjoying God’s provision there by Cherith Creek--savor the flavor while you can. But be prepared for the day that God moves you to the crucible of Zarephath.
5. But before you get uneasy, before you start hiding, hopping that he will not notice you and chose some one else for such an honor. When God leads to Zarephath--it’s because He wants to do another miracle for you--perhaps one that supercedes the ones He did for you back at Cherith Creek.
6. Ravens --like large crows came and fed Elijah from their beaks. What was Elijah--some sort of baby bird.
ILL. Have you ever seen a mother bird feed its baby? The mother finds a worm or a bug, swallows it, partially digests it, flies back to the next and regurgitates, and deposits it into the mouth of the baby.
7. The Bible doesn’t actually describe how Elijah was fed and this vivid picture from nature is certainly a grotesque possibility.
8. But in Zarephath, in the midst of hunger and squalor we find the Lord providing miraculously in the home of a widow. (1 Kings 17:13-15). Elijah said, "Everything will be fine. Do what you said. Go home and fix something for you and your son. But first, please make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. 14The LORD God of Israel has promised that your jar of flour won’t run out and your bottle of oil won’t dry up before he sends rain for the crops." 15The widow went home and did exactly what Elijah had told her. She and Elijah and her family had enough food for a long time. 16The LORD kept the promise that his prophet Elijah had made, and she did not run out of flour or oil.
9. By the creek, he slept on the ground under the stars. I picture him now sleeping in a soft bed with clean sheets, eating with the fellowship of a widow and her son.
10. I think it interesting to note that when God guided Elijah to Cherith Creek the KJV says that ?The Word of the Lord.? came to him. And then when God was ready for Elijah to be blessed with a better place, again the same phrase is used to lead him there--?The Word of the Lord.?
11. What is available to you whether by Cherith Creek--barely eking by, or in Zarephath experiencing God’s miraculous and extravagant provision? You have ?The Word of the Lord.? --God’s promises that encourage you and sustain you. ?The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want...."
12. And don’t forget how God provided for the widow who gave her last little bit of flour and oil--like the widow who gave her last mite. God blessed this lady for her faith and generosity. The miracle provision was for her too.
TS. That’s a neat story, but we are often prone to think that our situation is different. We are tempted to doubt, we are tempted with fear. We often dig in our heals and sometimes go the opposite way. We get angry at God for drying up our creek--our little trickle.
III. MOVING FROM CHERITH TO ZAREPHATH
A. Some fight God when He leads in a new direction because they fear the future. Some fear it because they do not really trust God to provide in that previously unconsidered future. Some faint and fail to move forward. Some flounder failing to listen to the "Word of the Lord"
1. But I challenge you to FOLLOW the Word of the Lord because you know God will provide where God guides. There’s a common saying that has encourage me at the first hint of fear Where God guides, God provides.
2. A recent archeological discovery rendered an ancient menu thought to be that describing the meals Elijah enjoyed in the middle of the famine. I’ve known some widows who could do a variety of things with just a little bit in my day
a. First Day: Breakfast Pancakes, Lunch Biscuits, Dinner Dumplings, Dessert - home made doughnuts
b. Second Day: Breakfast Fried corn cakes, Lunch Plain bread with a little ?sopping oil? Dinner Tortillas, Dessert - bread pudding
c. (15) She and Elijah and her family had enough food for a long time.
3. God’s not leading you to the next place of faith to starve you out, He’s leading you through the unknown, uncertain, the sometimes barren and bleak to show you that His provision for you is not based on the current status of the economy or the job market. His provision for His children is based upon His extravagant promises "The Word of the Lord"!
4. Husbands and wives...your Zarephath is not finding solace in the arms of another...it is following God, with faith walking through the dry times. If you will follow and not faint, flounder or fear, He will lead you to a refreshed relationship that was better than the one you had before.
5. Has your relationship with God sort of dried up? Is that God’s future for you? Does He want you to become satisfied with religion rather than a relationship?
a. Paul encouraged Timothy to (2 Tim 1:6) "...fan into a flame the gift of God, which is in you..."
b. God is trying to teach you something. Continue to watch and pray...continue to listen and look for the trace of His hand. When you find out what it is, your relationship with Him will be sweater than before.
6. I don’t know what your Creek may be. But I do know that God is always leading us forward. He doesn’t want us to get complacent. He want us to know that we will experience His provision no matter what direction He leads us.
IV. CHALLENGE FOR THE LOST
A. If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
--Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus? name, Amen.
