186. THERE IS BEAUTIFUL PROVISION IN OBEDIENCE

When it comes to God’s will, there is wonderful provision in obedience. This has been demonstrated time and time again in the Bible but today, I want to focus on 1 Kings 17.

In this chapter, Elijah the Prophet, who had prayed that there would be no rain upon the earth (James 5:17), informed Ahab, the king of Israel, that there would be no dew or rain for a number of years, according to his word.

God intended to honour his request and a famine soon ensued, there being not a drop of rain for the space of three years and six months.

Before the famine though, God told Elijah after he had spoken to king Ahab, to hide himself by the brook Cherith. He told him that he should drink from that brook and that he had commanded the ravens to feed him in that place.

Verse 5 states of Elijah, “So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.” True to God’s word, verse 6 tells us, “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.”

Such beautiful, supernatural provision!

Note though, that God’s wonderful provision was predicated on Elijah’s obedience. He did not question, he did not wonder how ravens, which had never before been known to bring food to a man, would bring him food. He simply did as God commanded and he did not delay. He went to where God told him to go and God provided for him.

This tells us that there is beautiful provision in obedience to God.

While there, we are further told, that the rain not having fallen for some time, the brook dried up. Now Elijah may have thought that God would have allowed the brook to continue to give water supernaturally, despite the lack of rain but he didn’t.

This reminds us that we can never predict how God will act or what he will do or what method he will use in his operations to us and in a particular circumstance. We must just have our ears open to hear his voice and to obey his commands, leaving him to work out the details.

This is what Elijah did and faithfully, when the brook dried up and his source of water was gone, it was only then that God then gave him another command.

Verses 7-9 read:

  • “And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.”

Once again, Elijah did not question. He did not ask whether the woman was wealthy and how it could be that she could sustain him when the famine was all around. Not understanding everything that God would do or was up to, he simply did his part, which was to obey. Verse 10 states of Elijah, “So he arose and went to Zarephath.”

When Elijah arrived and came to the gate of the city, he saw a widow woman there gathering sticks. He therefore called her and requested a little water to drink. She had it and was about to go get it for him but then, he called to her again and said, “Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.”

Now Elijah did not know this woman but he apparently perceived that this was the widow that God had told him would provide for him.

It is important to point out at this juncture, that God’s ways are really not man’s ways and his ways are past finding out. One would think that in a famine, that God would send his servant to some person or people that were quite wealthy and therefore had an abundance laid up in store to get them through the years of famine.

Yet, this was not so. God chose to send Elijah to a widow woman, who back then, her not having a husband as breadwinner to go out and provide for her as was the norm, had to provide for herself and would most likely then, have been poor. Yes, this is the same God that chose to allow his Son Jesus, to be born into this world, not in the home of some wealthy family or in an earthly Palace but in a lowly manger or stable, where animals were, a place that the average human being would have frowned upon and scorned, as it would have been considered to be one of the worst possible places to give birth to a child.

Undoubtedly, there are lessons in these situations that God allows.

So, of all the people that God could choose to provide food for Elijah, he chose this widow and she had nothing stored up in abundance. In fact, she told Elijah that she did not have a cake but only a handful of meal left in a barrel and a little oil and that she was gathering sticks to make the last meal for she and her son, her having resolved that after they had eaten, they would thereafter die from hunger.

Interestingly, the Bible did not say that upon Elijah’s request, the widow went immediately to take from her already limited resources to give to Elijah. This is important because before Elijah had even left the brook Cherith to come to Zarephath, God told him that he had commanded a widow there to sustain him.

God had therefore already communicated to her before Elijah even came, that she was to feed his servant but maybe she had not yet processed it. He had already planted the command in her heart but maybe she was not yet aware of it.

If she was then it seems that she put up a little resistance by not immediately obeying at Elijah’s request.

After all, she was in what seemed to be a predicament. On the one hand, she could SEE with her eyes that there was a famine, no rain having fallen for quite some time and that all she had was a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil, probably not even sufficient for she and her son to have a decent meal. She could SEE and had come to terms with the fact, that, after she and her son had eaten this last meal, there being nothing else left, no one to help her and nowhere she could go to get more food, that she and her son would die of starvation.

Yet on the other hand, despite what she could clearly see, God had commanded her to do something that seemed crazy, which was to provide for Elijah out of what little she had. This did not seem to make any logical sense whatsoever. She did not even have enough for herself and her son and had nothing beyond this last meal but yet God had told her to take out of it and give to his servant Elijah!

The widow therefore seemed to be faced with two (2) options. She could go with what she SAW, tell Elijah sorry but that she did not even have enough for she and her son and so could not share any of the little she had with him OR she could choose to obey God, by FAITH, although it made absolutely no sense and seemed a sure way to send her to her grave sooner than she had anticipated.

Thankfully, although she seemingly put up some opposition at Elijah’s request, telling him of her plight based on what she could SEE, she eventually obeyed what God had commanded her to do, when Elijah told her not to fear but to make him a cake first and then, make for her and her son.

In telling her not to fear, Elijah was telling her to have faith. Yes there was famine all around and she only had enough for one last meal for her and her son to eat. Yes what he was asking her to do may have made her feel fearful in her already vulnerable state. Yet, Elijah wanted her to walk by FAITH and not by SIGHT. He wanted her to dispel with fear and in faith, obey God.

The Word of God states:

  • “And when he came to the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks; and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

Upon Elijah’s initial request, the widow therefore presented her case for why, based on what she SAW, she could not obey God’s command. Elijah however, responded by saying to her:

  • “Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

Thankfully, the widow made the right decision. She chose, in FAITH, to dispel with fear, to completely disregard what she SAW and how the situation looked and to obey the command of God, TRUSTING in Him and BELIEVING what Elijah had said, that God would supernaturally cause what she had, to keep multiplying.

Jesus stated in Mark 9:23, that “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

This lady clearly believed and it caused her to act upon it, choosing to obey God over her own self-interest. As a result of her obedience, God provided beautifully for she and her household, by causing the barrel of meal and the oil to keep multiplying for many days. Through his supernatural provision therefore, which was predicated on her obedience, she, her son and Elijah were sustained through the famine.

Verse 15 of chapter 17 states:

  • “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”

Had the widow not obeyed and chosen to focus on how things APPEARED and what made logical sense, God would have found some other way to provide for his servant Elijah but she and her son would have surely died after they had eaten that last meal. They would not have died due to God’s hands being short that it could not have provided. No. They would have died due to her disobedience.

Yet, in her obedience, she lived and she had a testimony to tell others, after the famine!

This reminds me of us Christians today. The Bible states that we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and there are times when, to test us and for the furtherance of his purposes, God will command us to do something that seems to make no sense whatsoever. What he commands may seem self-detrimental and may be painful for us to do and so we find ourselves in a situation where we must choose whether we will go with what we SEE and how things APPEAR and therefore disobey God or whether we would abandon all self-interest and in FAITH, come what may, obey Him.

I personally, have been faced with such predicaments on more than one occasion. For example, I had to choose God’s will over a lucrative job opportunity that was offering about forty thousand dollars a month but required me to compromise my beliefs. I had to do it again on another occasion and choose the Lord’s will over my desire for self-comfort, when another job opportunity offered over twenty thousand plus a month but I could discern, based on how things were unfolding, in advance, that it would require me to turn a blind eye to what was wrong and to cover for dishonest practices.

I also had to obey God, when, having signed up under a one year contract at another job that was paying close to twenty five thousand a month and hoping that finally, God would allow me to just settle down there, to walk away from it when the option to renew came along and I was invited to indicate whether I was interested or not.

I knew for sure that God did not want me at that workplace and he had made it abundantly clear on several occasions throughout that year. The issue had therefore been heavy on my heart all of that year and God kept sending me confirmation after confirmation, through his Word and otherwise, that I was to separate myself from this place, where the practices and culture embraced were things that he despised.

I therefore resolved to obey him, as difficult and as painful as it was and despite the flak I knew I would get from people and family members. Determined to get out, I planned, only after a few weeks of being on that job and realizing that it would involve me having to seriously compromise my beliefs and hearing God telling me that here was not where he wanted me, that I would not renew at the end of the year contract. I wanted to leave as quietly as possible and so did not want to just suddenly submit my resignation. I therefore waited and as soon as the year was close to expiring, I informed my employer in writing, that I would not be interested in a renewal.

I took this decision against the advice of even a family member, which was basically along the lines that I should take the easy way out and remain so as to continue to draw that nice salary. I was determined to obey God and no one on the face of the planet was going to keep me from doing so.

Before I left, I told the Lord that I would obey him and not renew the contract. I told him I knew that this meant that I would most like suffer ridicule, badmouthing, gossip and criticism from people who, not even knowing all the facts, love to assume the worst of me and think that I just did not want to work. Yet, I told him that as much as I was dreading these attacks that would come upon my obedience to Him, I had no choice but to obey him and so I was prepared to go through whatever he saw it fit for me to go through. It would hurt, I knew, as it had hurt before and I hated that once again, God wanted me to walk away from a job, when I just wanted to settle down in one like a normal person does.

If I did that, I would not attract attention, ridicule, criticism and insults. Men would continue to be in awe of me, for it was a prestigious post and I was receiving a hefty salary. Yet, I was prepared to pay whatever the price for obedience to my Lord required and to the chagrin and disappointment of some, I walked away.

I had not a clue what was next and hated not being employed under an employer but I knew that come what may, I had to obey. For, the best place a child of God can be at any moment of time, is that place of obedience.

As I figured, I was ridiculed, insulted, made to feel bad, badmouthed and criticized, just as I had been before on another occasion but in my heart, I knew that I had obeyed God and so I did not retaliate, although it made me angry. I kept silent and committed the situation in his hand, the one who had all the facts and knew my whole story, to judge righteously. He gave me wonderful, blessed, beautiful peace in all of it, I NEVER complained and I have continued to sing my Lord’s praises.

I don’t care for the leeks and the onions. I much prefer the manna in the wilderness because it is there that his presence is and so it is where I want to be.

It just so happened, that two months after I left, the coronavirus pandemic hit my country and has persisted since then, us being on our third wave now. I see it as another reason to praise God, as, me being removed from the typical office workplace right before the pandemic, I was not as exposed to the virus as I would have been, had I chosen to disobey God and hold on to that job.

Who knows, I may have contracted it and died, especially as it has been reported that workplace contraction is most prevalent in my country and vaccines have only recently started to be rolled out in significant quantities. Yet, in my obedience, God has been hiding me beautifully through the worst and I am so grateful. Only he knew that a pandemic was coming and he saw it fit to remove me from the workplace arena, right before it hit our country.

Thus far, he has been providing for me, even in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic and I am grateful! I may not have the large salary I previously was obtaining or had grown used to receiving at another job but he has been providing for me wonderfully without me having to ask anybody for anything and I am content with his provision.

I have no lack and based on what he bountifully provided for me in early 2019, knowing that a pandemic was about to hit the world late that year and early into the next (two year’s retroactive salary increase and perks increase plus gratuity) and then again, another gratuity in early 2020, I could afford to use my time to quietly continue building the business that I started a few years back, that he wants me to build, to also work on the ministry that he has given me (as I am doing on this Website and did on my ministry Facebook pages) and even invest some of the funds that he has given me, into it, without having to worry about money. Praise God!

In 2020 especially, while the world was reeling from the pandemic and people were dying in large numbers globally, I invested funds that he gave me, while not being employed and repeatedly throughout that year, known as the pandemic year, to reach lost souls for Christ with the gospel throughout the world. For example, being led of the Lord, I used some of the money he gave me, to boost several posts on my Facebook ministry Pages, so that they would be advertised all over the world to women. These posts contained the gospel, delivered in a manner as I felt moved of God to write and the Lord enabled me to use the pandemic to reach people, as they were willing to listen in their vulnerability and fear.

I felt thankful to have been used by God in this manner, when I saw that some posts reached thousands of people in a matter of a few days and engaged the attention of hundreds, many of them, reading them and taking the time to comment on the Pages or to like what was sent.

Of course, wherever God is working, the devil tries to oppose and so there were attacks as I was busy with this GREAT WORK, both on Facebook and off of Facebook.

For example, some of my rights on Facebook were suspended on more than one occasion by Facebook for about one month (most likely because someone, not pleased with me promoting TRUTH online and reaching women all over the globe, had reported my biblical content to them as offensive). There was even that time, when a lady, who had a profile picture with a large snake on her shoulder, started attacking two of my Pages, putting laughing reactions on the gospel posts and on as many people’s comments that she could find where they were responding favourably to the Word. She even went so far as to type on one of my pages desperately, that I should stop this!!!

Yet, I did not stop. I could not be stopped once God was pleased for me to continue. I simply made use of the block option, blocked her from all five of my pages and continued. I did not stop even when, while still uploading Articles to this Website and having not yet received any comments, as people were not yet really aware of the new Website, the enemy caused a stranger to send a page load full of vulgar, sexual language posted as a comment, on this Website.

Having been attacked by the enemy for years and in ways that you would not believe, I have become accustomed to this and know that I must be doing something right. He clearly considers me to be a threat, something I realized some years ago. For, he only goes after those who are serious about the Lord and doing HIS will and over the years, he has sent people from all walks of life to try to come and mess with me, to stress me out, to provoke me, to falsely accuse me, to insult me, to let me know that I ain’t ever gonna get married and to bring up my past mistakes long repented of and forgiven by the Lord, all in an attempt to keep me from fulfilling my God-given mission and mandate. BUT GOD!

I simply blocked the e-mail, deleted the filth from my Website and learned how to adjust my settings, to allow me to read and approve comments before they are posted on the Website.

CONCLUSION

I went off on a bit of a tangent there but nevertheless, on the whole, the story of Elijah and the widow and even my own experience, demonstrates that there is beautiful provision in obedience.

When we choose to obey God, even in the face of opposition and people fighting you to go against His will for your life because they think they know what is best for you and have in their minds what the normal life should look like, the God who created you for HIS glory (not man’s) and has set out the blueprint of your life, beautifully provides. Therefore, I know, that even as he provided for Elijah when the brook dried up and the widow and her son through famine, all that he has purposed for me to have, I will have. Of a truth, I want nothing more and nothing less.

(Written on 8th June, 2021)

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