Literature Ministries International


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September 30, 2018

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THE BROOK DRIED UP

"And it came to pass after a while, that the book dried up, because there had been no rain." 1 Kings 17:7

I am continually amazed at the leading and working of the Holy Spirit from day to day. Elijah had just spoken to Ahab that there would be no dew or rain for years. Then the Lord told him to go to the brook Cherith, where he would have water from the brook, and ravens to feed him each morning and evening. This seems to be an unusual leading by God, but as Elijah obeyed, he saw the hand and provision of the Lord in it all.

How often God deals with us in a similar manner. It is in the "interlude of His leading" that He teaches us the providence of loss, and the mystery of failure. In the awareness of our emptiness see anew the faithfulness of His care and provision. We have all gone through these perplexing experiences, but how blessed to gain through loss and grow in grace as we dare to trust His hand, when we cannot see His way.

After awhile, the brook dried up. Was God failing him? No, He was ready to move Elijah to another place where God was to use him in the lives of two very needy people. Have you experienced the "drying up" of some earthly resource, that, unknown to you, was the "crutch" on which you were leaning for support and care? Suddenly, it dried up. What now? God wants us to realize as never before, our hope, our help, and our strength are in God who made heaven and earth...the ONE who said..."I will never leave you or forsake you."

During this "quiet time of trusting God," Elijah's faith was strengthened, his concept of God was enlarged, and he was being prepared by God for greater things. When the time came, God said, "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." But who was this woman? She was one who had but a handful of meal and a little oil in a cruse. She was going to use this meager food to prepare the last meal for her and her son, that they might eat it, and die. THIS is the woman that was to sustain Elijah! And what did Elijah ask of this destitute woman? "Bring me, please, a piece of bread." If we would have been the woman, we probably would have said, "Are you kidding me? I have only one very small portion of food left for me and my son. We are going to eat that, and then we're going to die!"

Elijah's expectation was in God! When the woman obeyed Elijah and brought him the food, GOD multiplied her resources. "For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry." GOD has resources that we know nothing of. We must learn the difference between "trusting in the gift" and "trusting in the GIVER."

The widow's son becomes ill and dies. Elijah takes him to his upper room and lays him on the bed, and cries out to the Lord. "The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned unto him, and he lived."

Shrink not from the "interlude of God's leading." He is preparing you for greater things for His glory. "Let Him do what seemeth to Him good," that in "all things He will be magnified."

© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.


This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2018-09-30


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