There (January 19, 2025)

1 Kings 17:4 ~ “You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.””

1 Kings 17:9–10 ~ “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.””

God’s plans will include provisions. When we are in God’s Will and Plan for our lives, God will provide. It doesn’t mean we set back, and God will just place the provisions into our hands, we must be INSIDE God’s Will and Plan. We must rise and go.

In verse 4, we find that Elijah was in the cross hairs of Ahab and needed a place of safety. God instructed Elijah to hide out in the Kerith Ravine, which was east of the Jordan River. Evidently this was one of the narrow gorges that had a brook running through it from which Elijah would have a plentiful supply of water. In addition, the hideout would give Elijah seclusion and safety from Ahab’s frantic search for him. Note God’s wonderful promise of supernatural provision: He had personally ordered the ravens to provide food for His dear servant.

• THERE Is Where He Abides Personally – we see from verse 4, God showed Elijah a place that he could personally be protected, and God would abide there with him personally. God has a personal interest in your well-being, safety and success – as long as you Embrace God’s Plan for your life.

• THERE Is Where He Provides Powerfully – you can read in verses 5-6 how Elijah witnessed the power of God as the ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, morning and evening. And he drank fresh water from the flowing brook. Despite being all alone and being hunted down by the king, Elijah’s needs were being met by the LORD Himself. God’s dear servant was being protected and provided for day by day. Elijah was in obedience to God’s Plan and God provided powerfully for His servant, even in the wilderness.

• THERE is Where He Confides Privately – sure God does things in the open, sure God does things for all to see; but there are times that God confides privately to His servants. God is wanting to privately work in our lives as we Embrace His Plan, what God does privately and how we worship Him and serve Him privately, God will reward openly.

Matthew 6:6 ~ “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

• THERE Is Where He Presides Pointedly – Let’s look back at verses 9-10; sometimes it seems that God is, well – mean. As you read the next few verses about the widow, she is trying to make one last meal for her and her son, so they can die. It may seem like all hope is gone and God doesn’t seem to care, but you must remember, as you Embrace God’s Plan for your life, God will make a point to take care of His servants.

We find that the brook God had led Elijah too had dried up and the Lord instructed Elijah to go and stay in the city of Zarephath. There he would meet a widow whom the Lord had already instructed to supply food for him. When Elijah came to the gate of the city, he saw a widow gathering sticks. Elijah decided to test the woman to see if she was the widow appointed by God. He asked her for a drink of water and, as she was going to get the water, he called out and asked her to please bring him a piece of bread as well.

Turning back toward Elijah, the widow responded by sharing her desperate situation: she was poverty-stricken, having no food whatsoever, only a little flour and oil. In fact, she had been gathering the sticks to cook her last meager supplies, expecting to starve to death along with her son after they had eaten this final small meal.

1 Kings 17:13–14 ~ “And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ””

This next part in verse 13 and 14, we find an example of how we TRULY need to trust in God. Hearing the desperate plight of the widow, Elijah challenged her to trust the LORD for His provision. He told her to go home and bake the bread, but to give him the first part. She could then make bread for herself and her son, for the LORD, would replenish the flour and oil miraculously. He would provide for all three of them until the day that it rained. Note this was a promise based on the authority of God’s Word, for Elijah declared that this is what the LORD Himself had promised. Would the widow believe the Word of the LORD? Would she make the bread first for Elijah?

The widow did believe the promise. She obeyed the prophet of God, doing exactly what Elijah had instructed her to do. And the result was astounding: the LORD miraculously provided food every day for the woman and her family and, of course, for Elijah the prophet. The flour and oil never ran dry, just as the LORD had promised through His faithful prophet.

I wonder if we understand the importance of fervently finding, faithfully Embracing God’s Plan and filling the place of THERE in our lives. As we find our there, we will find that in this place dwells all the fullness, all the fellowship of our Christian joy.