Supply

Supply

God takes care of his people.

In 1 Kings 17, Elijah had told King Ahab that God’s punishment upon the evil of the land was no rain.

There was a sense of irony in this punishment. A nation rejects God. They do not want his involvement in their nation or in their lives. They do evil. So he withdraws. There is no rain of the Holy Spirit upon the land—no reign of God over it.

God instructed Elijah that he was get his water from the Brook Gherith. Further God used ravens to supply bread and meat to Elijah in the morning and evening. How astounding. Elijah had no job-he evidently was on God’s welfare program. By the way, I note that ravens are not exactly generous birds. They are generally fat, black and sassy. You know why? They are greedy birds and eat up everything around. But God chose to use the ravens.

Elijah must have been continually amazed as his needs were met. Yet there was no bread and meat at lunch time. God supplied all of Elijah’s needs. I suspect that Elijah did not get fat on two meals per day. He had water to drink instead of wine. Our needs are often simple. God will meet our needs. Simply, but met.

One day, however, that brook dried up. In 1 Kings 17:7 it simply says: “It happened after a while that the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.” It would seem that if God could instruct ravens to bring food that he could have kept the brook running miraculously if he wanted to. For whatever reason God chose not to do that.
And if I were Elijah, I might have asked God why he had let me down by having the brook dry up.

Instead God had a better plan. Why not miraculously feed a widow, her child and Elijah and all at the same time. This is kind of like God saying: “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.” “ So ravens bringing you food and meat is amazing, well watch this.”

So the word of God comes to Elijah that his needs will be met by a widow who lives in poverty with her child. Not even a good Jewish widow but supply coming through a person not of Elijah’s faith and nation.

So God instructs Elijah to go to Zarapheth. There he meets a widow gathering sticks. So Elijah asks her for a little water and a little bread.. Well the lady is not too happy about this request and tells Elijah: “ I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, so that we may eat it and die.” Now if that does not mean “buzz off” then I do not know what it means!

Elijah is insistent however. He says well fine, but before you die how about a little bread and water. It is then that Elijah gives this word to the lady:

v.14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: “The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord send rain on the face of the earth.”

Well, that is what God said and that is how it worked. Elijah lived there with the widow for many days (how the town must have talked!) and the flour was not exhausted and the jar of oil did not become empty.

God supplies the needs of his people. He may do it through the ravens or he may do it through the widows. But God supplys. We do not need to fear or worry.

We live in a time that there is a spiritual drought. We wonder where the water of the Holy Spirit is, where is the Bread of God? We are spiritually faint and need renewal.

Yet God supplys. He supplies those who look to him in faith. We all have areas where we need the supply and bounty of God. It may be spiritually, financially, emotionally or in some other area. God watches over us. The New Testament reminds us that we are more important than the birds of the air. Yes, we are more important and he will use them to supply our needs or some other method. The choice is His.