I was reading 1 Kings 17-19 this morning, and honestly, my head was filled with “why’s” as I processed it.  So the backstory is that Elijah had confronted wicked king Ahab of his sin of idolatry and had told him that there would be no dew nor rain in the land for a long time.  God then directed Elijah to go to the brook Cherith where He would provide for him by having ravens bring him food (bread and meat) morning and evening.  (I would have had to have heard from God before I ate what a bird of prey brought and dropped off to me…yuck!  Haha).  

God had it covered – ravens provided food, Cherith provided water.  So when God commanded the ravens to feed Elijah, why didn’t He also command the brook not to dry up?  Was it because God knew that Elijah would become too comfortable at that brook, with his needs being met, that he would hesitate to obey His command to go to the widow at Zarephath?  As I pondered that, the Spirit showed me another possibility.  God may have allowed the brook to dry up because if He hadn’t, Elijah’s whereabouts would have been discovered there, as people were searching all throughout the land for any water they could find.  Could it be that the hardship of a dry brook that Elijah faced was actually God protecting His servant?  That left me with the truth that we have to be careful how we view things.

As hardships come into our lives, our perspective must be that 
ALL things work together for our good and God’s glory 
when we are living for HIS purposes. (Romans 8:28).

Now onto the widow at Zarephath. I wonder if, when God commanded her to care for Elijah, she thought she may have misunderstood what God was saying to her, given her dire circumstances (a handful of flour and a little oil in a jar). This woman was found by Elijah gathering sticks to take what little she had and make the last meal she and her son would eat before they would starve to death.  But, you know, because two people chose obedience, three were supernaturally provided for by God.  My takeaway from this is that we can’t assess situations in our lives through a human perspective.  

If God directs us to do something, don’t think, OBEY.  

Another thing I was  wondering about was the guilt this widow was experiencing that she would interpret the death of her son as something deserved because of her sin.  It made me wonder if her son was sinfully conceived, or if perhaps she had been active in worshiping the Baals, etc., like everyone else in the land had. Whatever it was, it was definitely impacting the way she saw things, the way she processed things.  As I pondered this, I came away with the truth that the enemy of our souls wants to use guilt to distance us from intimacy with God; where God uses guilt over unconfessed sin to drive us to Him in repentance.  If something from your past is bothering you, and you have gone to God about it already and made things right, that is the evil one “joy stealing”.  However, if something is bothering you that you haven’t dealt with God about, do it now, and come away knowing you are forgiven and you are on good terms with God.  

Bad guilt keeps you stuck in feelings of shame.
Good guilt drives you to God in confession and repentance.
Know the difference.

The last thing that I was greatly impacted by, as well as greatly convicted by, was Elijah’s prayer in 18:37. “Answer me, Lord, answer me SO THAT this people may know that You, Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back.”  Are my requests to God for my comfort or for God to be known and glorified? Ouch….like a lot. 

What better way for our BIG GOD to be seen 
than through our deliverance from a BIG PROBLEM.
How’s that for perspective, huh?