Last week, our pastor taught a sermon about Elijah from 1 Kings 17:1-16. In the story, Elijah tells the king that there will be no rain for several years. God then tells Elijah to run and hide and directs him to the rough and desolate Kerith Ravine. Elijah obeys, doing just what the Lord had instructed (even though he didn't know how things would work out). Elijah knows enough about God to know that He is faithful and that He can be trusted. As expected, the Lord provided for all of Elijah's needs-giving him water from the brook and sending ravens to provide him meat to eat.
The next part of the scripture brings this nice little story to an abrupt halt.
1 Kings 17:7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
What's that all about???
God calls Elijah.
Elijah obeys.
God provides and then the water runs out??
That doesn't seem to make sense does it?
Well, this message couldn't have come at a more appropriate point in our lives as we are at the point where the brook has dried up.
When we started our adoption, we thought we had all the financial details worked out. God had provided and we were excited to have a plan this time around.
Shortly after we turned in our paperwork, we experienced an onslaught of unexpected expenses. It was literally as if an attack was launched (remember, the enemy hates adoption-the bible says, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8).
With each new blow, we tried to remain thankful that we had the funds at the time that we needed them for these expenses. After all, this was God providing for our needs. It was hard though to watch the money we thought we'd be using for our adoption go instead to pay for dental work, medical expenses, household and car repairs.
As the story of Elijah continues, we see that while the resources that God had originally provided dried up, He does not leave Elijah without a plan. He provides for him in another way through a lowly widow. God instructs this widow with only a bit of flour and oil to her name to share what she has with Elijah. He uses her tiny step of faithfulness to provide for Elijah and her whole family.
For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:16
God provided for Elijah in another way and we are trusting that He will provide for our adoption in another way.
One such way is through our $7 for our 7th campaign at A Charity Project.
The idea is simple, you give $7 and then spread the word to those you know via the web, facebook, email, or blogs and they give $7 and so on. The ripple effect ensues and we meet our fundraising goal.
Click over to our fundraising page to learn more.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:19
No comments:
Post a Comment