Has God ever placed you in a job, location, or situation you never would have chosen for yourself? In 1 Kings 17:7-16, we see how God operates on many fronts to both accomplish His purposes and bless us.
One day, while Elijah was enjoying the restful protection of the Lord at the bottom of the Kerith Ravine, the brook dried up, and his time of being fed by ravens ended. The Lord told him to go to Zarephath where a widow would feed him.
Elijah knew that if God had given him the order, He would provide for his needs.
This new direction from the Lord was strange on many levels. First, Zarephath was hard hit by famine. Second, it was in the heart of Baal-worship territory and only seven miles from Jezebel's home. Zarephath means "smelt," and the city had a reputation for being a smelly, polluted place where iron was smelted. Elijah must have wondered why he was being asked to leave his comfortable hideout and cross seventy miles of desert to walk into unpleasant and dangerous territory.
But Elijah knew that if God had given him the order, He would provide for his needs. "So he went to Zarephath" (v. 10).
Prayer: Father, help me to trust You like Elijah did and to obey Your commands, even if they don't make sense to me and take me out of my comfort zone. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
"I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands" (Psalm 119:60).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef's sermon How God Works, Part 2: LISTEN NOW
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