On Friday we saw how God demonstrated His love and provision to His child Elijah by sending him to the Kerith Brook during a time of famine. It was there that God provided the water and food that was necessary to sustain him. Today, however, we will see a new challenge that Elijah is up against.
After some time goes by, the Kerith Brook – the very place that God had sent him – dries up! Elijah now finds himself face-to-face with a situation that looks pretty grim. As far as he can tell, he has run out of water and there is not a single cloud in sight! And he is getting thirsty…real thirsty! Probably parched!
Can we strap on Elijah’s sandals for just a moment? Alright, we are standing next to a brook. The very brook that God sent us to and it is now bone dry. Not a chance of rain in the forecast. At this point, we could easily be tempted to think that God has forgotten about us, has left us or is mad at us. Or maybe we begin to question ourselves “Did God really tell me to go to the Kerith Brook in the first place?” Or while staring at the dried up brook, we decide that God is mean, unfair and is punishing us for something we did wrong. Or like the children of Israel, we begin to think that God has brought us out to the brook to kill us! Do you think we would be tempted to think things like that? I wonder if Elijah had those thoughts.
If we or Elijah were tempted to think any of those negative thoughts, we will soon discover that not one of them would be true. So let’s give Elijah’s sandals back now and watch as God directs him into a new destination, a destination that has been thoughtfully and lovingly prepared for him. Our text is taken from 1 Kings 17:8 and it reads: “Then the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.’” A new direction and fresh provision!
Ok, we cannot afford to overlook the significance of the town where the Lord is sending Elijah. This is HUGE! God has sent him to the village of Zarephath, which means refinement. It also means to fuse, melt, purge away, try. Can you see where God is going with this? Not only has God not forgotten about Elijah, but out of His deep love and affection for Elijah, He is strategically using these challenges to refine him for the most amazing, most incredible encounters with the Giver of Life Himself.
Friends, I don’t know much, but one thing I do know is that God will use challenges to try our hearts to make sure we are firmly fixed on Him, and nothing else. He wants us unmovable and unshakable. And because of that, He will purge and melt away all the things that aren’t beautiful in our life, so that we will look like the One who is Beautiful. His desire is that we become one with Him, you know, fused together with Him.
We must decide that no matter what kind of situation we are up against, no matter how grim the situation looks we will trust our God. That is what He is looking for – hearts totally sold out to Him. We can trust Him when famine hits our land. We can trust Him when our brook has dried up. If He brought us to it, He will carry us through it! He is FAITHFUL!