What do you do when the source of your necessary provision dries up and is gone?
What do you do when the supply that your well-being requires comes to an end?
What do you do when what worked well before stops working?
What do you do when your well runs dry?
Well, let’s have a look…
1 Kings 17
2 And the word of the LORD came unto [Elijah], saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; …
5 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.
6 … and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up.
Let’s summarize these scriptures:
- God directed Elijah to go to a certain place where he could receive the sustenance and provision that his well-being required.
- Elijah obeyed God and moved to this certain place.
- For a while, Elijah enjoyed the excellent sustenance and provision that was readily available to him in this place.
- But, the time came when the required sustenance and provision that was previously available to Elijah was no longer available.
So, the long and the short of the situation is that Elijah was in the specific place where God told him to be…and yet, the sustenance and provision that his well-being required dried up right before his eyes.
Now, we would expect God’s blessings to dry up if Elijah was out of God’s will…or if Elijah was disobeying God…or if Elijah was sinning.
But, Elijah was IN God’s will…he was obeying God…he was living and doing right…and yet, the sustenance and provision that his well-being required STILL dried up.
That’s not what we want or expect, is it?
That brings us right back to the big question: what do you do when you are in the place where God’s will has put you…and yet, that which your well-being requires stops being provided?
As you hold that question, let’s get even more clarity on what Elijah had to deal with…
It is easy to feel great when God’s rich blessings, sustenance, and provision…when that which your well-being requires…is just laying there waiting for you to scoop it up.
All you have to do is just be there…with your cup in hand…and your cup is quickly and easily filled to overflowing.
Plus, it feels really great to be able to pull from the abundance of the river and store up some extra provision.
But, how do you feel when you notice that the river isn’t flowing like it used to?
How do you feel when it becomes harder and harder to get your cup filled up?
How do you feel when it takes longer and longer to get your cup filled up?
How do you feel when what used to be a roaring river of provision is now a meager trickle?
How do you feel when you can plainly see that the very provision that your well-being requires is drying up before your eyes?
How do you feel when the day comes that the river…your source for required sustenance and provision…is completely dry…and now, you are forced to start drawing sustenance from your stored up reserves…and as day after day passes, your reserves drop lower and lower…all while the river continues to be dry as a bone?
And finally, how do you feel when you are in that place where God’s will has put you…where God has COMMANDED you to be…that place where God has richly sustained and blessed you in times past…but now, the blessings have dried up…and your reserves are gone…and you can’t see an alternative source anywhere around you for the sustenance that your well-being requires?
How do you feel now?
And, how do you feel about God now?
Well, that brings us yet again right back to our big question: what do you do when you are in the place where God’s will…and your obedience to God…has put you…and yet, that which your well-being requires stops being provided?
Well, what you do is SURRENDER and SUBMIT yourself unto the Lord.
What you do is seek direction from the Lord (Proverbs 3:6, 11:5, Ecclesiastes 10:10).
What you do is tighten your belt if need be (Psalms 27:14, 37:9, 37:34, Proverbs 20:22).
What you do is maintain your integrity (Job 2:3, 2:9, 27:5, 31:6).
What you do is keep trusting and believing in the Lord (Psalms 37:3, 73:28, Proverbs 3:5, 29:25).
What you do is hold the mindset, perspective, attitude, confidence, trust, and faith towards God and His providence towards you that you are directed to hold over and over all the way through the Bible.
Consider just this one example:
Psalm 118
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear…
7 The Lord taketh my part…
8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
14 The Lord is my strength…
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord.
25 Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good…
Really notice the mindset and belief system here:
- The Lord is on your side.
- The Lord is standing up for you.
- Looking to the Lord for help is better than looking to people or government for help.
- The Lord is strengthening and will strengthen you.
- God may allow things to get tough and tight for a short while, but He is NOT going to let you die.
- No matter how lean your situation may be, God WILL send prosperity your way (Job 36:11, Psalms 35:27, 122:7, Isaiah 43:19).
- The Lord WILL open doors to goodness and rightness for you…and you WILL walk through those doors into that goodness and rightness.
- The Lord hears your prayers…He answers your prayers.
- And, the Lord is all of these things to you…and He does all of these things for you…so that you have even more reason to love Him, praise Him, worship Him, and tell others about Him.
Now, going back to Elijah and the serious situation that he was in…where his necessary sustenance and provision had dried up right in front of him…we find out that Elijah held exactly the mindset and attitude that has just been described…and just as God ALWAYS does for ALL of us…God came through for Elijah:
1 Kings 17
8 And the word of the LORD came unto [Elijah], saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath…and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 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.
As you read these verses, did you notice what happened?
Did you catch WHY God allowed the “river” provision that Elijah both required and was enjoying to dry up?
It was because God wanted to manifest Himself and His blessings to even MORE PEOPLE!
Read the preceding two sentences as many times as you need to for the point to really soak in.
When your “river” of provision begins drying up…there is nothing to be afraid of. God has NOT forgotten you. God is NOT going to abandon you. Do NOT start accusing God of child neglect.
Instead, LET yourself get excited with anticipation about what God is going to do NEXT in YOUR life that is going to be a blessing to even more people!
When God doesn’t seem to be answering an important prayer, that is no cause to think that God is rejecting you…that is no cause to think that God has forgotten about you…that is no cause to question God’s love and care for you…that is no cause to question God’s existence.
In actuality, that unanswered prayer means that God is timing things and redirecting you to something better for both you and others.