How God Provides

 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 1Kings 17:9

God is not unaware of our needs. In fact He has made necessary provision which we do not know about. Let's consider the story of Elijah and the widow in 1Kings 17:8-16. 

After Elijah prophesied no rain on the land, he was commanded by God to go to brook Cherith where he was provided for by God through the ravens. When the brook dried up, the LORD asked him to go over to a widow in Zarephath who he has commanded to feed him. We can see here that the widow was another unlikely means. The widow was gathering sticks to prepare the last meal. She had no hope where the next meal would come from. So she concluded death after she might have eaten the last meal with her son unknown to her that she has been ordained by God to feed a mighty prophet. 

I am sure if another prophet had told her she would do something like that, she would have doubted. We see at the end of the story how God honoured His word by causing the barrel of meal and oil to stay until the rain came again.

The Raven
"Ravens eat anything they want.
Being omnivores, ravens generally eat anything available. Ravens will dine on roadkill, or hunt their own prey for dinner. They also eat insects, eggs, seeds and berries, and even dung. These intelligent birds are known to store extra food away in secret hiding places for later. If a raven senses that another raven is watching where it is about to hide food, it will pretend to stash the food in one place, but will actually hide it in a different spot."

The ravens came to Elijah morning and evening without eating the food meant for Elijah until the brook dried up. The Ravens were faithful because an Intentional God was providing for His servant. 

Your source of provision may be drying up or has dried up, but be at rest because God can supply your needs by any means. Scripture confirms over and over that God's word over His people must come to fulfilment. God provided not just for Elijah but the widow also using the most unlikely means. 

Like the widow, you may have lost hope on how things will work out. You may be unaware of His command for your life, on how you are someone's helper even when you don't know it. Stop and rest in the assurance of God's promises to supply your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Again, if we consider the story of Father Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 we see also how God provided for him when all hope was lost—An experience that brought about the name Jehovah Jireh. Lambs don't just show up, it had to be God. 

Obedience and Provision
One thing in common amongst the characters in this post is Obedience. They all obeyed the instruction of God even before the provision was made manifest. 
I believe there is a direct link between Obedience and Provision. 

Dear friend, I encourage you to take comfort in Scripture knowing that God can provide through any means and can supply your needs accordingly.

When it comes to providing, God is the Specialist. 

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