Poetic Provision

Sunday's Notes-

Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel lives, the God I serve, there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!” I Kings 17:1 NLT

Then the LORD said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.” So Elijah did as the LORD told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. I Kings 17:2-6 NLT

Following God with conviction requires trusting God for provision and protection.

But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land. I Kings 17:7 NLT

Then the LORD said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” I Kings 17:8-9 NLT 

Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner, a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Luke 4:25-26 NLT

Jehovah, like a prophetic poet, author’s provision with a redemptive rhythm only God can give. 

So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” I Kings 17:10 NLT

As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” I Kings 17:11 NLT

Lack can never become a license to hoard the very thing your called by God to give.

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Luke 6:38 ESV

But she said, “I swear by the LORD your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” I Kings 17:12 NLT

Don’t let desperation be the voice that determines your decisions or destiny with God.

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!” I Kings 17:13-14 NLT

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah. 

I Kings 17:15-17 NLT

The key to trusting God for provision is to obediently to give the best of what you have to Him.