Devotional

Hello,

Here is a story from the Old Testament that helps to encourage us and warn us. I Kings 17

The story is about Elijah, a prophet/preacher. The king---King Ahab---had been worshipping idols. He married several wives that worshipped idols. So he made temples for their idols. There were about 4 or 5 different idols that they worshipped.

Israel was a nation of people whom God had chosen and helped. He told them that he would do wonderful things for them if they would worship Him only and be true to Him. Through the years God had done many wonderful things for the nation of Israel. As long as they obeyed God, God helped them and blessed them. When the people started sinning, disobeying God or worshipping idols----God did not protect them---their enemies came in to fight and they took over. God did not bless their land and the fields and trees did not grow food like other times.

Now again, the people of Israel were doing wrong. The king should have been leading them in the right way to obey God----but the king, himself, was sinning and being wicked.

God told Elijah to go talk to the king and tell him that because of his sin and worship of idols---God was going to stop the rain---and the rain would not come again until Elijah said it would.

You would think that the King would see his wrong doing and see what trouble it made for the nation. You would think that he would stop doing wrong, but no----he blamed Elijah. He tried to kill Elijah. Did the king think that killing Elijah would make the rain come? It was God who was angry with the king and the people for their sin.

God told Elijah to go hide out in the country by a brook called Cherith. God told him to stay there. God told Elijah that he would feed him by sending ravens with food.

We do not know what kind of food the ravens brought. We do not know if the ravens "stole" some bread from somewhere, or "stole" some meat that someone was cooking outside on an open fire. Maybe God made up a special king of food like "manna" that the people of Israel ate long ago. Whatever, God fed Elijah there by the brook (small river) until the brook began to go dry because there was no rain.

I am sure Elijah could see the brook getting smaller and lower everyday. Many of us would be worrying about what we would do next. Elijah was probably thinking the same thing.

When there was no more water in the brook, God told Elijah to go to a town called Zarephath. God said that there would be a woman (widow--her husband had died) and she would feed him.

Again this was strange. A widow has no husband to work and bring in money or food. Most widows were very poor. They had very little. God was sending Elijah to a poor woman with only a little and she was going to feed him? Why wouldn’t God send Elijah to someone who had plenty?

Elijah went. When he came to the town gates, he saw a woman picking up small sticks to make a fire. (People cooked over an open fire.) He asked the woman to bring him some bread. The woman told him that she had only enough flour and oil to make one flatbread and then she and her son would eat it and then probably die because they had no more.

Elijah asked her to make a "cake" for him first, then he said, God will see that you have enough for you and your son until the rains come again and the wheat grows.

It took faith for her to give that one last "cake" to Elijah. On the other hand, giving him that "cake" may bring more for her and her son. She decided to trust Elijah and Elijah’s God.

She made the last "cake" and gave it to Elijah. When she looked into the jars of flour and oil, there was still some left---so she made flatbread for herself and her son.

Day after day, she fed Elijah, and there was still some left for her and her son. The jars were never full of flour or oil------but there was always enough in the bottom to make more food.

God could have sent Elijah to someone who had plenty, but this way a poor woman was blessed. Elijah, the woman and the son all learned how to trust God every day for food. They learned to depend on God.

There are some lessons to learn here. Sin makes trouble for a person or a king or a nation of people. God is patient for awhile, then God says "Enough." Then punishment and judgment comes.

A person can sin and ignore God and disobey God for a time, and then God sends judgment/punishment. For Israel that time----it would be no rain.

People do not get away with sin forever. Nations do not get away with sin forever. Israel is an example to the world of how God deals with people. Israel is an example of how God’s blessings are given for those who obey God, and how God pulls back blessings and protection when people sin and will not obey God.

Sin is the devil’s work. If God pulls back His blessings and protection from us----we will be at the mercy of Satan. How much mercy do you think Satan has?

Sin makes for trouble for all people. There were people in Israel who were obeying God. They were doing right. But because of all the other people doing wrong----they all would suffer no rain. Sin makes trouble for every one----not just for the ones doing wrong.

Many people have been hurt because of other people’s sin, other people being mean, other people being selfish, other people stealing, etc. Sin makes trouble for everyone.

In America, we see how so many of our leaders are doing sinful wrong things. People who are running our country, running our stores, businesses, banks, factories---are doing wrong. People all around us do not care about obeying God. They live the way they want.

If God punished Israel for sinning and disobeying Him, will God let America keep sinning and doing these wrong things and let us get away with it? Will America see the judgments of God in our weather, in less food growing, in other nations coming to fight with us, in losing money and our nation becoming poor?

Our nation’s leaders have ignored God’s laws----just like King Ahab did.

Yet in the middle of all that bad time of no rain, a widow woman with very little-----found out that God knew all about her. God made a way for her----if she was willing to trust Him. She had to take the first step to obey and trust. She had to make that last "cake" and give it to the man of God before God would give to her.

She was willing to obey and trust. God met her need. And He kept giving her what she needed until the rains came and food was growing again.

We do not know what will be in the future for America. And you may have a need for something today.

God sees. God wants you to take the first step. Come to Him, ask Him for help. Obey Him and trust Him.

God never filled up the jars. They always had "just a little". At times, God does things in our lives to keep us where we need to stay near Jesus to keep going. God wants us near Him. If we have all we need, we often go away from God and go about on our own. We leave God behind. God wants a relationship with us. Our relationship with Him is more important to God than all of the things we think we need.