Experiencing God’s Provision
Text: 1 Kings 17
Introduction: “We Sent Two Boats and a Helicopter.”
Here's a great story about God’s provision. During a terrible flood, volunteers risked
their lives to rescue victims stranded in the deluge. One old Pentecostal
preacher was up to his knees in the fast-rising waters when a rowboat came by.
"Hop in, we'll save you!"
"No thanks,
the Lord will take care of me."
A short while
later, the water had risen to the roof and the man had climbed there for
safety. A motorboat was sent to save
him. Again, he declined: "No thanks, I have faith. The Lord will save me."
Soon the water was
up to his chin, a helicopter was dispatched at the last minute. "Climb
aboard, this is your last chance!"
"Thanks
anyway, but I have faith. I don't need
you; the Lord will save me."
Before the
helicopter returned home, the old man drowned and went to heaven. He was bewildered and mad, banging on the
Pearly Gates. He bitterly complained to St. Peter, "I never doubted, I had
faith why wasn’t I saved?"
Peter looked at him
and said, “I’m not sure. Let me check our records.”
After looking at the books Peter shakes his head and says,
"Now wait just a minute! We sent two boats and a helicopter!”
Elijah and the Ravens 1 Kings 17:1-7
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. And the
word of the LORD came unto him,
saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee
eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
And it shall be, that thou shalt
drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
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. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the
morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
And it came to pass after a while, that
the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
First Principle of Provision: Obedience
The first priniciple we see in experiencing the provision of
God in the example of Elijah, is simply that Elijah obeyed God.
At the risk of his life he obey God and prophesied that
there would be a seven year famine before Ahab, the King of Israel who along
with his wife Jezebel had turned the northern tribes into a pagan nation. A
nation that practiced the most vile and inhuman practices of worship, including
the sexual immorality and the slaughter of innocent babies.
After Elijah obeyed God, we are not told how but Elijah
escaped from Ahab and fleeing to the wilderness brook he dwelt by the brook Cherith.
In his obedience to the word of God he had to leave his home, his family and his
friends.
He obeyed and believed God who told him, “I have commanded
the ravens to feed thee there. He waited upon God, drank from the brook and ate
what the raven brought him.
Ravens of course were an unclean bird, an animal that was a
scavenger, an eater of dead flesh and yet God chose them to care for his
faithful servant. God provided for the needs of Elijah in ways and means that
were beyond Elijah’s understanding but not beyond his faith.
Provision begins with Obedience
If we are to experience the provision of God, we must begin just
as Elijah began, with faith expressed through our obedience. God will not bless our lives, he will not
begin to supernaturally provide for us until we determine to be obedient to His
word and will.
We need to quit ignoring, pretending and excusing why we
can’t obey the simple and direct application of the Bible to our everyday
experiences and begin acting, working and exercising our obedience to God.
Do you remember what Samuel the prophet told Saul, after the
king had disobeyed God? 1Samuel 15:22-23
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast
rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
We are not kings but when we reject the word of the LORD we
also reject His blessing of provision.
Illustration: The Man With the Suicidal Daughter
I once visited in the home of a man whose daughter had just
attempted suicide, she still wore the bandage on her wrists. He called me to
give him answers as to why this had happened. He wondered aloud while his
daughter sat in the back room why she would do such a thing. "We sent her to Sunday School." he exclaimed. "Where was God in all this?" He seemed to blame the girl, God and even the church but he never thought he was a fault. I sat there thinking
about this man, that I barely knew, but I knew this much, he had left the church over an offense with the former pastor. He had spent many more hours in a bar than in the Lord’s house. He
had also been caught cheating on his wife.
I didn’t say it out loud for it was not the time or place,
but I couldn’t help but think. “How can you ask me where God is? He is
everywhere He is welcome but will not bless those who disobey and dishonor
Him.” God’s provision in my life both of
the simple things and the great things begins with obedience to His word and that blessing is
lost in disobedience.
Transition:
God now begins to move Elijah from simple obedience to
greater faith. He is working in Elijah’s life moving him into greater areas of
faith. How does he do this? Does he send fire from heaven? Does he take Elijah
up to heaven in a fiery chariot? No, these provisions are still to come. What
does God do to make Elijah stronger in his faith? He dries up the creek. No
miracle, in fact it is the stopping of the miracle, no more ravens no more
water, and it is when the miracle ceases that faith begins to grow.
Quote: Watchman Nee, “Because of our proneness to look at
the bucket and forget the fountain, God has frequently to change His means of
supply to keep our eyes fixed on the source.”
Elijah and the Widow 1 Kings 17:8-16
And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she
went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house,
did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the
cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
Second Principle of Provision: Priority
God sends Elijah to Zarephath to the home of a starving
widow and her son.
Once again notice God says “I have commanded a widow.” First
God commanded the ravens and now it is a widow. First it was an unclean birds
and now it will be an unclean Gentile family from the Phoenician city of Sidon.
Once again Elijah obeys God and goes to the widow.
What a poignant scene takes place. Elijah finds the widow
gathering sticks to make a fire to prepare a last meal for herself and her son.
There is only enough meal and oil for herself and her son. Yet God has sent
Elijah here, to this poor nearly starving widow.
Once again we see the obedience and faith of Elijah, who knows
that God would not send him to this woman just to take her last meal.
So he audaciously asks her to serve him first. He tells the
woman, “Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little
cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.”
How did he come to that decision? Had God spoken? Had he
received greater detail than we are told in scripture? I don’t think so. Elijah
did what you and I have to do everyday when faced with difficult even
impossible decisions. Elijah through faith was placing God’s will, God’s man
and God’s plan before this woman’s will, her family and her plan. He was making
a hard decision in the midst of an impossible situation based upon the priorities
of faith.
Because he put God’s will first, God blessed Elijah’s faith
and the widow’s obedience and the meal and oil never failed. Together they
experienced the provision of God.
Beyond Simple Obedience
I believe that God wants our faith to grow, because as we
grow in faith, we grow in our relationship to Him. We must grow to a place
where our faith involves more than just a simple action and consequence. Our
faith must grow enough to accept setbacks and overcome obstacles and it must
grow to also include others as it did with Elijah the widow and her son. Our
faith must grow enough to understand that God expects us to have priorities in
our faith.
These are acts of faith and obedience that require us to order
our actions and our commitments according to the will of God. It is not simply
a yes or no but a way of ordering our way of living in light of God’s revealed
will.
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-33 Therefore I say unto you, Take no
thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for
your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body
than raiment? Behold the fowls of the
air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one
cubit unto his stature? And why take ye
thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil
not, neither do they spin: And yet I say
unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the
grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall
he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall
we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles
seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things. But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
In order to grow in our faith and in our relationship with God we must live our life according to the priorities of God's will, putting Him and His kingdom first in all our decision and commitments, then we will experience more His provision.
Illustration: Jesus and the greatest command of all - Mark 12:28-30
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is
the first commandment of all? And Jesus
answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our
God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Jesus said, this is the first commandant, first in
importance to our faith and our experience with God transcending the everyday
elements of our life and showing Himself to us through His providence.
Transition;
Now if we had been fed by ravens and saw the miracle of a
never ending food supply, I think we would be happy to call it a day and tell
the Lord, “This is wonderful, thank you so much. I’m now ready to live my life
in the new found faith You have shown me.” Elijah probably would have felt like
that too, but God isn’t finished growing Elijah’s faith.
So lets go on to Elijah and the Son and the third principle
of Provision.
Elijah and the Son 1 Kings 17:17-24
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Third Principle of Provision: Prayer
Now Elijah is confronted with the greatest test of his faith.
The family that has opened their home to him, this family that
has trusted him and trusted God, this family that has obeyed and even
sacrificed for the cause of God is now stricken by the touch of death and
sorrow.
Also notice that he is not told anything by God. No voice of
comfort tells him what was going to happen, what is happening or what will
happen. Now in the midst of this silence from God, Elijah must trust in God’s
provision more than he ever has.
What does he do when confronted with the harsh reality of
sin and suffering? What does he do when he doesn’t know why this death has
taken place? What does he do when all he is sure of is the pain and sorrow, in
the life of this mother who has cared for him and the pain and sorrow in his
own heart? What does he do when those he cares for are suddenly in the darkness
of despair?
What he does couldn’t have been done before he experienced
the provision of God at the brook. What he does next, he wouldn’t have had the
faith to do unless he had seen God at work in the home of a starving
widow.
What he does… what he does…is pray. Oh but not just any
pray. It is a prayer like he has never prayed before. It is prayer filled with
hope and faith and also doubt and despair. He prays to God with a heart shrouded
in fear but with a soul filled with faith.
He takes the breathless body of this child to a place where
he can be alone with God. He covers the lifeless body with his own body and
three times he cries out, “O Lord, my God. I pray thee let this child’s soul
come into him again!” Put an exclamation point on that prayer. He is crying out,
the Bible says. His heart is tearing and he dares not quit or let the little
body grow cold, by everything in Elijah’s body and spirit he reaches out to God.
And God hears the voice of Elijah.
The Power of Prayer
Have you ever prayed with your whole being, your body, soul
and spirit, as we read Elijah did that day? Most of us haven’t. And do you know
why? Because our faith hasn’t grow to the place where we can.
You see, we haven’t obeyed God in the simple things. The yes
and no, the right and wrong of God’s commands. Nor have we ordered our lives
according to His revealed priorities and therefore we don’t really have the
faith required to pray with our whole being.
To experience the greatest blessings of God, to understand
the deepest depths of his provision for us we must come to a prayer that
encompasses all of us, body, soul and spirit just as it did Elijah.
Scripture: Psalms 109:21-27
But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake:
because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my
heart is wounded within me. I am gone
like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my
flesh faileth of fatness. I became also
a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according
to thy mercy: That they may know that
this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
I am beginning to think that this is what fasting and prayer
is about. Not just a self-righteous attempt to draw attention to my piety but
the true response of faith that incorporates all of me. So much so that my body
and my soul is given over to the overpowering need of prayer and I have no time
for food or anything else because my greatest need is prayer.
Illustration: David’s Prayer in the Wilderness
When David had fled from Saul and was hiding in the deserts
of Judah, running from one place of isolation and loneliness to another. He
wrote Psalms 63, a prayer that reveals his dependence upon God’s presence and
His provision.
Psalms 63:1-2, 7-8 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek
thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have
seen thee in the sanctuary.
Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of
thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand
upholdeth me.
Conclusion:
Our theme for the month is Experiencing God
To most of us that probably brings up ideas of just coming
to church, singing a few hymns or listening another sermon, but it means so
much more as we’ve seen from the experiences of Elijah this morning.
Are you truly willing to experience God?
It begins with obedience, simply doing that which He has
commanded us to do.
But even greater blessings await us as we begin to give not
just simple acts of single obedience but our entire lives to God, living those
lives according to His priorities and will.
Finally, through those lives of faith we will be brought to
a place where we can see the hand of God blessing us in ways we never thought
possible. Blessing and provision unleashed through prayer that has been tempered
and intensified even by sorrow and fear. A prayer that is prayed with all of
who we are and in that intensity it releases the overwhelming power of a greater
faith. A faith grown by experiencing God’s unfailing provision in every step of
our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment