God's Supernatural Provision
Notes
Transcript
Big Idea:
Big Idea:
We experience God’s supernatural provision through faith-filled participation.
Intro:
Intro:
Hi! Welcome to Church Online.
How many of you need money? Before I scary anyone off, don’t worry… I’m not a “prosperity preacher.” I don’t want your money. But for real… how many of you need money?
Most of us could use more money. Even when we get infused with unexpected funds, like tax returns or stimulus checks, that disappears pretty fast, and the bills keep coming. Soon enough, we need MORE money, and once again ask the question, “How can I get more?” We look for provision from some sort of income source.
My question for us this morning is: Who is your provider?
This morning, in our “The Big Story Book” series, we’re starting with an Old Testament story where the people of Israel began to look to Baal, a false god, for their provision.
Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal.
The people followed the kings example. Put another way, they trusted in Baal as their provider, instead of the God of Israel. Baal was a god worshiped in the surrounding countries. He was supposed to be a god of fertility - a god who could make the land fruitful. He was seen as a provider.
Elijah’s supernatural provision (1 Kings 17):
Elijah’s supernatural provision (1 Kings 17):
So, the prophet Elijah comes to King Ahab and says...
Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”
In other words, Elijah’s like, “You know the God of Israel is alive, right? But because you refuse to trust in Him, He’s going to show you who is truly God - Who is truly the Provider.”
…because the sense is, “If Baal is truly the provider, he could make it rain (making the land fruitful). But if God can stop the rain, then what does that say about God? Who is truly in control?”
Of course, any time you get in the king’s face and make him look stupid, he’s going to get made. So… God offers Elijah protection by hiding him. It goes on to say...
Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River.
God hides him deep in the desert. It’s so remote that you’re not supposed to survive out there, because there’s nothing to live on out there. There’s no provision! But God says, “I will be your Provider.”
You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
Two things we must understand to see this:
There was no rain. And these brooks dried up quickly. Yet, God promises Elijah, “For now, I will supernaturally provide a private water fountain for you.”
He also commanded the ravens to bring food to Elijah. Now, this is crazy because it’s not just supernaturally commanding animals to bring provision to Elijah, it’s commanding neglectful animals (animals that are usually selfish scavengers, to provide). Job 38:41 says, “Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?” A possible interpretation is that ravens aren’t naturally great providers.
It would seems impossible for Elijah to receive provision this way. Nevertheless, Elijah obeys God and goes to this hiding place. And...
The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.
I know what you’re thinking, “Why did the brook dry up?” I think one reason is connected to our church’s 2021 vision. The theme for this year is, “Different.” That we would allow God to make us different. That we would be open to the Holy Spirit doing different things in our lives. And it’s based on an understanding that - as Isa 43:19 says - God is always doing a new thing. Something fresh. Leading us into a deeper, greater experience of Him. I believe that’s what’s happening here.
God is proving He’s in control. That He’s the Provider! But He reveals this in a greater way in the following story...
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.”
To really understand what God is doing require us to consider two more things:
Zarephath was outside of Israel. It wasn’t technically “God’s territory.” Actually, this was Baal’s home! Yet, as we’ll read, the drought has reached into this land, but apparently this Baal-god hasn’t shown himself as a provider - not even to his own people, in his own land.
God promises to provider from a widow. At this point in history, this was a ridiculous statement. Widows don’t provider for anyone! They had to be provided for!!! And to prove that, look at the next few verses...
So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”
But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”
When Elijah meets the widow, she’s got nothing left. The drought led to famine, and that likely impacted anyone’s ability to help support this widow. Today, she and her son would have one final meal and then die. So, how is someone like this supposed to provide for Elijah?
Look what happens next...
But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”
So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
God shows us all: I am the TRUE PROVIDER. I am the SOURCE of all provision. I don’t need help, nor am I dependent on person, place, or thing. And it is my heart that all come to know Me this way. Isn’t that amazing?
I’ve experienced this kind of supernatural provision from God (my apologies in advance for those who have heard this story)...
Back in California, Janelle and I fell on some hard times. Some of that was bad financial choices, but other times it was things like both of us losing our high paying jobs on the same day, after we had just bought a new car and a 400K house.
One time, money was tight! We had nothing. And I remember praying, “God, I have no way to make this right. I need your help.” I had shut my phone off (so I wouldn’t be distracted). I was fasting. I was praying. Crying out to God to help because we needed food and to pay rent. And honestly, I was hearing NOTHING in my prayer time. I kept pressing in.
Then, I heard one phrase. It was a strange phrase. I heard, “Turn on your phone. You will be happy.” That doesn’t sound very spiritual! Was that God? Doesn’t God use bigger words than that? Anyways, I obeyed what I thought was the Lord, even though it sounded weird.
The only thing on my phone was a voicemail from my mom. Something you have to know is, my mom rarely has money. In fact, a lot of time she asks us for money. So, there is NO CHANCE this has anything to do with provision.
I listen to the message and it says, “George, this is your mom, call me.” So I do, and she says, “George, how much is your rent?” I tell her, “$1900. Why?” She replies, “I came into some unexpected money and I get this sense that God wants me to give it to you. Do you guys need money? I’m going to send you $2500.”
Are you kidding me? This is like God supernaturally providing through the widow! Mom my never has money! But God used her to meet our needs to show that He is in complete control. That HE IS OUR PROVIDER. And, just like I thought I heard, I was happy!
The Bible (this Big Story Book) says God never changes. It also says Jesus (who is God) is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Not only is God the Provider in the OT, not only was He the Provider in my life, but as expected, we see Him reveal Himself as the Provider in the NT...
Jesus feeds the 5,000 (Lk. 9:10-17):
Jesus feeds the 5,000 (Lk. 9:10-17):
On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
That’s a cool story, and there’s so much to this story, but let’s spend some time tying everything together to see what the Holy Spirit would speak to us today, because there’s a message that’s woven into all these stories: God is our Provider.
How do we enter into this kind of supernatural provision? Well, what did we see in our stories? We saw that “provision comes thru obedience, not just belief.”
Provision comes thru obedience, not just belief:
Provision comes thru obedience, not just belief:
1 Kings 17:5 says Elijah “went and did according to the word of the Lord.”
Verse 10 says, “He arose and went to Zarephath.”
Verse 15 says the widow, “went and did as Elijah said.”
And when Jesus commanded his disciples to feed the crowd with what little they had, they did it.
How do we enter into a life where God is our supernatural Provider? We obey what He commands by faith. This is different than just believing what God says. There’s a difference between faith and intellectual belief.
James, the half-brother of Jesus said...
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
What James is getting at is a faith that is limited to intellectual belief isn’t faith at all. Faith requires action. Faith demands obedience. It requires us to do what God says. And when it comes to provision, God demands a faith that shown thru obedience - action in response to command.
Let’s bring it back to our opening subject and let the rubber meet the road. One place we need God to be our Provider is with money. However, if you remember from last week, many times God’s Kingdom is upside-down. He does things DIFFERENTLY. And a theme we see throughout this STORY is God supernaturally provides for those who are financially generous. Or, simply put, God PROVIDES for those who are willing to give away their money.
Now, before I go further, let me put to rest any anxieties. I don’t want your money. TRC doesn’t need your money. God doesn’t need your money. This is not a message because I’m broke, or TRC is broke, and we need you to bail us out. But what I do want you to do is to enter into the Kingdom of God and experience God as your supernatural Provider!
It’s similar to what Paul told the Philippians (I like the Amplified translation for this one!): Not that I seek the [financial] gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your [heavenly] account [the blessing which is accumulating for you]. (Phil 4:17)
I want our church filled with people who are flourishing in the Kingdom of God. And that’s often connected to how we use our money. I don’t know what it is, but money has a strange pull on our heart. Jesus noticed this too, which is why he says things like...
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Often, we unintentionally make money our provider, the same way Israel made Baal their provider. We put our trust in money thinking more of it will make our lives better. But let me tell you, you can’t fully experience the Kingdom of God with money as your master. That’s not how you enter into God’s supernatural provision!
So, how can we tell if that’s our problem? Here’s two questions that can test our hearts:
Am I a contributor or a consumer?
Do I sacrificially give?
Let me quickly break those two down...
Contributor or Consumer:
Contributor or Consumer:
A consumer is someone who walks into church and only receives. They don’t serve, they don’t give, they don’t contribute. They consume. They pick a church based on what they can get out of the church, not what they can contribute to the church. And usually, a consumer never financially gives.
Btw, I don’t like talking about this stuff. I hate talking about money. But sometimes in church - in healthy families - we got to have hard discussions, right? And the reality is money can become a god in our lives. If that’s true, my job as a pastor is to call it out. As one of my favorite pastor’s says, “You can’t defeat what you can’t define.” And he also says, “We are not spiritual consumers. We are spiritual contributors.”
Sacrificial Giving:
Sacrificial Giving:
Now, there are many ways to give in the church. They all count. But again, we’re talking about money because we’re defining dangerous enemies in our lives, so we can defeat them! So when - or if - we give, is it a sacrifice. What I mean is, “Does the amount of our giving cause us to trust God as our Provider?” I know… that hurts. It’s supposed to. Because what we’re doing right now (including myself) is we’re allowing the Holy Spirit to perform heart surgery. To pull out the roots money has dug into our heart.
There is a family in our church that has been praying for years for a better financial situation. They are also one of the most financially generous families in our church. They sacrificially give. How do I know? It’s not because I check the giving. I don’t handle the record keeping. But I’ve talked with this family and they have let me know they could easily accomplish some of their financial goals… IF… they stopped giving (even for a season). But you know what? They are UNWILLING to do so. Why?
Because this family lives in the Kingdom of God! They have experienced God’s supernatural provision. They know He is their Provider. They hear God’s word and obey it. Like when he says...
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
They hear that. They believe it. But it doesn’t stop there. It leads to action. They continue to sacrificially give because they know provision doesn’t come from a checking account balance, but from God Himself.
And I’m convinced that God will not only continue to supernaturally provide for them, but they have eternal wealth waiting for them in heaven! Something better, and more lasting, than anything they could financially achieve if they held onto all their earthly money.
They’re like the widow in our story. Did you guys catch that the widow had to FIRST give Elijah bread, then make some for her family? She had to sacrifice by faith and obedience. But what happened afterwards? She entered into and experienced the Kingdom of God - the place where God Himself was her Provider!
Do you need God’s provision today? Are you willing to participate by simple obedience?
As we close, let’s bring it back to what it’s all about. Because there’s a provision available that’s great than anything money can buy...
There’s an ultimate Provision to be made, and that’s Jesus.
There’s an ultimate Provision to be made, and that’s Jesus.
As we’ve been saying for the past couple months… Jesus is the most important person. And a provision that we all need is being rescued from our sin. We have no way to make this right on our own. We need God to provide a way. And Jesus is that provision.
2000 years ago, on the Cross, Jesus paid for our sins with His blood. And we know His payment was accepted because He rose from the dead. And this Provision can be applied to our lives if we’re willing to put our faith in Him. And not just intellectual belief… but faith that results in obedience. There’s a difference!
After feeding the 5,000, Jesus said...
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
The provision for our sin requires us to follow Jesus. Gathering and acknowledging facts about Him isn’t enough. We need to obey Him. Are you willing to do that today?
Response:
Response:
As we close, let me give us some practical steps to help us walk in God’s supernatural provision...
4 Practical steps:
Simply obey. Whatever God says, do it. That’s what Elijah did. That’s what the widow did. That’s what the disciples did. If God tells you to give $20 a week. Do it. $200 do it. 20% do it.
Sacrifice for your priorities. I use a budgeting software called YNAB. When I get paid, the first bucket I allocate money into is giving. That’s the priority. God works out the rest. I don’t know how He does it, but He always supernaturally provides.
Love Jesus. Do we sacrifice? Yes. Does this kind of giving require discipline. Yes. But what this really is about is LOVE. We cheerfully give because we love Jesus. When that is our heart, the windows of heaven open up...
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
Finally… 4) Don’t fear, but have faith. Like Elijah told the widow, “What are you scared of? God will supernaturally provide all we need!” When we’re asked to trust God, we don’t need to fear! Because what’s actually happening is the Kingdom of God is coming! That’s a good thing! God was always supposed to be our Provider. Sin ruined that. We started trusting the creation rather than the Creator. But, by faith-filled obedience, we can experience restoration and live the way God designed it to be.
Let’s pray...
Father, today we want to trust You for everything we need. We know you are the Provider. Give us faith to obey, not just belief. But to actually walk into Your Kingdom. May our life be filled with faith, obedience, and sacrifice. We want to follow Jesus. Even though it requires us to deny ourselves and pick up our cross, we know it’s worth it! Please help us by Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, amen.
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