Jana Spicka and Women Getting Real Ministries
Posts tagged Elijah
Elijah – Take 2
Feb 2nd
So yesterday we talked about God feeding Elijah morning and evening through the ravens. A sweet time of rest, trust building, reflection. Perhaps. Or maybe it was a time of wrestling, arguing and doubting, waiting for God’s goodness to run out. Sound familiar?
Guess what happened? The brook dried up.
I love it when God brings us to these pivotal moments. The “Now what?” moments. The OMG, freakout moments. It is almost as if we think that God left the cosmos or something. Like He went off line or went to sleep.
For Elijah it was the brook drying up. For me it was the missed deadline for a deposit for Zimbabwe. Same reality: helpless to provide for myself. Same question: “God, You gonna take care of me?” But the good news is: it is the same God. “Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.’” 1 Kings 17: 8-9.
The King James Version says: “Arise.” I love that. Get up and get going. God is on the move.
It reminds me of the Narnia stories when they would say, “We hear Aslan is on the move.” They didn’t know what that meant, or how Aslan would change the circumstance. But they were strengthened because they remembered that Aslan was the great high king over all Narnia. And everyone knew he had the power to do anything. Everything. Everyone knew he might not be a tame lion, but he was good.
So it is with God. He has a wild story that He is constantly telling. Our lives are the plots and twists, the reckless romance, the good vs. evil story played out by this great, untamed God. And what does He ask of us?
Belief.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists,
and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
And what do we believe in? The power and goodness of God. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colosians 1: 7
Finally, we believe in the Who of God. We trust that He empowers our cries, prayers, and praise. His Spirit is actively changing the world, and our hearts.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” James 5:16-18
Pray for rain; pray for God to heal and feed you. Praise Him for all things: ravens, dried up brooks, and widows. Pray and believe.
Between Morning and Evening
Feb 1st
The Lord has me sitting in the story of Elijah lately. I must be a slow learner because it seems like we have been here a while. But I confess, the longer I sit in these couple of chapters, 1 Kings 17- 19, the more I see of God, and the more I see of me.
What I like about Elijah is his utterly honest humanity. He walked with God when things were really, really bad; when it didn’t look like things would be improving soon. But still he depended on God. And he trusted God to not only understand his weaknesses but to CARE about them. This strengthens me. When all the wheels start coming off my life, it refreshes me to have a God that won’t despise my weaknesses but help me in them.
Look at Elijah as a flesh and blood example. He had just declared to Ahab, one of Israel’s most wicked kings, that “as the Lord lives, the God of Israel lives,” there would be no rain or even dew until Elijah says so. Talk about gumption. That is serious confidence in God. Elijah’s whole accusation against Ahab was that the king had turned to false idols and led the nation away also. Elijah was constantly pointing back to the clear evidence God was alive and well and willing to be their Loving God.
Now look what follows. God sent Elijah to a remote place where there was a brook and told Elijah that He had commanded the ravens to provide for him there. Draught on the land, provision for you. All through the Bible you see how God protects and provides for his own regardless of what is happening all around.
In this quiet place, equipped with fresh water, God sent ravens every morning and evening with meat and bread to feed Elijah.
This weekend in my own head, when the giants seem too big, the desert too hot, the needs too great, the bills too many — this weekend I was struck by the time between morning and evening for Elijah. Did he ever question that the ravens would come? Was he ever surprised day after day? Why didn’t the Lord just give him a small oven and flour? What was the Lord teaching Elijah (and us) in the space between meals?
Before every great battle and public encounter, there is a private battle and spiritual encounter. I think God used this time to teach Elijah that he could not take care of himself. Elijah had to look to God to provide, even for the food in his mouth. I think God was teaching Elijah how to faith in the space between meals. I think God was teaching Elijah how to Receive from His hand, in whatever way, by whatever means the Lord decided was best for Elijah. Even when that way was ravens. I think God was preparing Elijah in the quiet space for the battle that was on its way.
I am not going to rush through this story. But for today, I wonder, are you looking for the ravens? Are you receiving what the Lord is sending for your good? Are you waiting by the brook for your God or are you bustling about trying to feed yourself? “He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.”
